Huge Frog Tales

Some stories are just too unbelievable to be true.  We all know at least several old wives' tales or wacky web tales.  But I have a story that I call the Huge Frog Tale.  I was reminded of this at the reunion of my high school graduating class that I attended this past weekend, when someone - I don't remember who - asked about the frog pendant that I was wearing.  I didn't get a chance to relate the tale to the asker, so I'm writing it here for folks to enjoy.

Way back before the Internet became widely accessible I was a member of what was called a Bulletin Board System or BBS for short.  These were personal computers connected to a phone line via modem, that outside callers with a similar setup could phone in and contribute to discussions on various subjects.

During one such discussion I mentioned that I was a collector of frogs.  Someone mistakenly thought that I actually had real frogs in some sort of a terrarium setup, and I had to correct him by telling him that I actually collected porcelain figurines.  Upon seeing this, a forum member named Rob who was a real joker said "Frogs say Ribbit, horny toads say Needit, but when a 2000 pound frog speaks, everyone listens!"  Another member named Phil added to the joke by saying that I had an invisible 2000-pound frog named Nathaniel as a pet or guardian, who would stomp on anyone who dared to mess with me.

A number of years later I was having a rough time personally as my first marriage had broken down and I was experiencing anxiety attacks.  I had a good friend named Tammy who was into new-age spirituality, paganism, and that sort of thing.  At some point I told her the joke about the 2000-pound frog and she seized upon it, saying that it might help if I had a physical representation of that idea.  So she gave me that frog pendant, and I called it Nat.

Since then I've worn Nat whenever I've been out of the house for long periods of time, or when I travel somewhere.  I don't really need the emotional crutch any more since it has been thirteen years since the divorce went through and I'm now happily remarried.  But it's still a pretty pendant, and a good story.