Part I - The Beginning
Back in the fall of 1995, my Sister Becky took her daughter Kimmie to Dallas to experience the State Fair of Texas. Kimmie won a small stuffed frog playing a game on the midway. When they got back to Austin, she accidently left the frog at Mom’s. Without saying a word, Mom hid the frog in a spot where Kimmie would be sure to run across it. For months, the frog showed up in the most interesting places – on top of the china cabinet, in a potted plant, in the bathroom, in the kitchen – without either of them saying a word. Kimmie would find it and move it, Mom would find it and move it. It was fun to see where Senor Froggy would end up next.
In April of the following year, I took a week-long trip to Atlanta to check on my house, visit friends and spend some time watching the newly crowned world champion Atlanta Braves. Back then, we took most of our pictures with disposable 35 mm cameras. Before I left , Mom told me to take her camera to use up of some of the shots. On a whim, I decided to take the frog with me.
Senor Froggy and I attended 3 Braves games during the week. I’m talking Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Steve Avery, Javy Lopez, Ryan Klesko and David Justice – to name of few of the great players. We had a grand time. When I got back to Austin, I gave the camera back to Mom without saying a word. I had not finished up the film in the camera. I then hid the frog in an unlikely spot in the house as if he never left.
The film did not get developed until Mom and Dad returned from a trip to San Francisco in October. I could hardly wait to see Mom’s reaction to the pictures of the frog in the stands at Fulton County Stadium. She was grinning when she handed the pictures to me. I got to my Atlanta pictures, giggling. Then my giggles turned to shock. There was a picture of the frog sitting on a table at Scoma’s in San Francisco. One of my all time favorite restaurants! I was so miffed. Mom really got me.
Thus began the travels of Senor Froggy. Fifteen years later he is still at it. In fact, he has visited more places in the world than I have.
(More about Scoma's in a later post)
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