Jumpin' Jiminy!

When I was young I read the stories and books of Mark Twain and among these was about this jumping frog of Calaveras County.  Well, we had spent the night in the county and the Jumping Frog Festival had started on Thursday. It was Saturday morning and time to check it out. The festival is held at the fairgrounds in Angels Camp, referred to as "Angels" by the locals, in May every year. It's not just about jumping frogs but is a big celebration more like a county fair with frog jumping as the main attraction. There a displays of local arts and crafts and 4-H boys and girls with their prized pigs, cows, and sheep.  Lots of horses and rodeo type events too. With funnel cakes and carnival rides available. There were some antique engines and I had a great conversation with a guy about his 1919 Fairbanks-Morse oil burning engine.  But the stars of the show are the long legged amphibians.  The main event is on Sunday but practice is on Saturday.  The record distance jump is a little over 21 feet. The judges measure three jumps.You place you frog at the starting spot and he jumps away, or rather he should. Frogs jump when they want to.  Frog wranglers, people who jump frogs, sometimes kiss the frog, stamp their feet, clap their hands and say all sorts of things to get the frog to jump. They have a training area for young frog wranglers where a kid can use one of the company frogs to practice making them jump.  There is a huge viewing stand overlooking the stage where all this jumping is going on. Incidentally, all frogs must be local, not souped up imports allowed. Green is the dominant color around the festival.  Little did ole Mark know that his story would lead to such a spectacle.