Froggy History

What a beautiful day it is today. The sun is bright and the flowers are positively glowing, so much so, it makes me feel good to be alive. As a frog I am filled with great joy, since I have some good news to tell you all: the first of my progeny have finally made the amazing transition from being tiny tadpoles, turning into miniature, but fine specimens of frog kind, just like me. Ribbit!!!

So, here I am with another of my family lineage. You know, we frogs go back for zillions of years and have almost as colourful a history as you humans. I've only just realized, but I can't recall ever telling you about the more famous frogs in our history. Well, it's time that I changed this. Ribbit!!!

Even within my own lifetime, I had an encounter with one Billious Frogg, a rather eccentric character who filled his life with what we all saw as, those daring deeds of his. He once took me up in a hot air balloon, the air being provided by Billious from what I remember. Anyway, he told me that he wanted to cross one of the largest ponds I've ever seen, making use of the balloon that is. There we were, surrounded by a mass of croaking bystanders, all hopping around excitedly, each trying to find the best spot to view what they thought would be a magnificent spectacle. There wasn't a lot of wind about that day, but what there was blowing in the right direction, away from us and across the great pond. We began to release the ropes that held us down, I felt a lump inside my throat and soon we quickly ascended into the bright blue yonder. I'd never been up in a balloon before, but I can tell you that it was an extremely thrilling moment for me. We sailed upward and then moved horizontally over the water. It was such a wonderful experience, I don't think I could ever forget those eighty minutes it took us to reach the other shore. Ribbit!!!

Ah!! I mustn't forget to tell you about Benjamin Frogg, for he was the one who inadvertently discovered the properties of electricity. To be honest, it all happened because of an accident really, you see, old Benjamin was a rather constant and inveterate bragger. In froggy parlance, he had one of the longest tongues you ever did see in your life, in fact, I could say that he was exceedingly proud of it. Anyway, one year when he was taking part in the annual fly catching extravaganza, the weather, which for the most part had been perfect for flies, suddenly changed. The sky turned menacingly black, and then the rain began to fall, not a lot, but enough to dampen things a little. Well, the time finally came for Benji's turn. He proudly hopped up to the line and prepared himself for his superb talent at fly catching. Of course, I needn't tell you that he always won this event in previous years, but this time, everything was not quite how he had planned it to be. He lined his eyes up to catch the biggest bluebottle anyone present had ever seen before now. There was a big sigh, out shoots his tongue... But, unfortunately, seconds later this whacking great bolt of lightning struck this bluebottle at exactly the same moment old Benji's tongue connected with the fly. Well, talk about firework display, old Benji lit up in a rainbow of colours with sparks zipping up and down his tongue like a dog chasing a furball. Poor old Benji never felt quite the same after that incident. Now, he's extremely wary of trying to catch flies... Ribbit!!!

There are so many famous frogs in our history, for instance: there's the Dwight Froggy brothers. They were the very first frogs to fly by means of an instrument they had built called a frogoplane. Of course, they did it before they realised that in some parts of the world, there are frogs who can fly without any aids. Sadly, no one had had the heart to tell them about it. Ribbit!!!

Just in case you haven't heard of any of these famous froggy characters from our history, I must tell you about Hannibal Frogg. In order to protect the village where he lived from being attacked by the 'orrible great salamander tribe, he led his people across the Alps (well actually, I think he was somewhere east of the M1, but don't tell anyone that I told you so.) sitting astride an old giant bullfrog. Needless to say, he saved their lives and his deed joined others in our Froggy history books. Ribbit!!!

There's a certain alien chicken coming to share afternoon tea with me and a few friends tomorrow, so I say goodbye for now. So stay safe and mind how you go.

Until next time,

Froggy