While the name itself may seem rather vague, Frog Jumping Day’s origins come from Mark Twain’s first published short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” in 1865. Twain was living in a cabin south of Angels Camp when he wrote the story. According to the Frog Town web site (https://www.frogtown.org), the legend is that Twain overheard and was inspired by a story in a local tavern. 

Inspired by Twain's story, in 1893 Calaveras County started hosting a County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee during the third week of May, first in Copperopolis, and ever since in Angels Camp. The four day event classic fair food and events, highlighting local award-winning wines, live music and a rodeo.The main event, of course, is the frog jumping competition. Since 1986 the frog named Rosie the Ribeter has held the jumping record at 21 feet, 5 ¾ inches.

The Calaveras Frog Jump Competition begins on Thursday, continues on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning.  The International Frog Jump finals are held on Sunday afternoon. Hop on over to Angels Camp. Perhaps you will see a MarkerboardJungle:Frogs fan there! https://www.frogtown.org/frog-jump


National Frog Jumping Day brings literature to life, encouraging awareness of the many different kinds of frogs and their impact within our ecosystem. There are approximately 7,300 species of frogs around the world. Find out more. Visit a nearby pond or aquarium, read Mark Twain's story, go to a nature educaton web site to learn more about frogs ... 

or ...

click over to the page for our upcoming game featuring one of the smallest of frogs, the Pacific Treefrog. 
If you are intrigued by the idea of exploring the world of this little critter, sign up for the wishlist at Steam.

– Pat Adams

Our amazing little amphibians can help us watch over our planet and plan for the future.

Are you actually hosting or attending a “Save the Frogs” event this weekend? Get outside. Celebrate places in your world where frogs are thriving. Wildlife has taken over some of the places we humans have stopped visiting.

Please read the July 20/27 of Time Magazine. Buy a hard copy for further study. Give it to your friends for discussion. There are many other sources of good climate information, but this one issue should be easy for every one of us to find something to relate to.

Then find a way that you can take action. The first critical step here in the United States is to elect a government that will support humanity in battling this crisis.

Two articles are described below. But every page of this issue offers sobering thoughts. And hopefully it can spur you to join us to improve our planet while we can.

2020 Is Our Last, Best Chance to Save the Planet

“… In the future, we may look back at 2020 as the year we decided to keep driving off the climate cliff–or to take the last exit. Taking the threat seriously would mean using the opportunity presented by this crisis to spend on solar panels and wind farms, push companies being bailed out to cut emissions and foster greener forms of transport in cities. If we instead choose to fund new coal-fired power plants and oil wells and thoughtlessly fire up factories to urge growth, we will lock in a pathway toward climate catastrophe. There’s a divide about which way to go.”

By Justin Worland

The US Republican forces came down on the side of supporting the oil industry. In early April, a series of meetings resulted in “a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to cut oil production and rescue the industry.”

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, took the other side of the divide. She announced in April “We can turn the crisis of this pandemic into an opportunity to rebuild our economies differently.” On May 27, she pledged more than $800 billion to the initiative, promising to transform the way Europeans live.

The rest of the world has waited for three years for us to get new leadership with a new position, one that will cooperate with other nations to take the actions we need to prevent the worst ravages of climate change. We are out of time. 2020 is our deadline.

https://time.com/5864692/climate-change-defining-moment/

We’re Handing Our Kids a Damaged Planet. And Our Excuse for Doing Nothing About It Has Now Fallen Apart

We have often been placated with the notion that real change takes time. But this is only true where apathy is its main resistance. Change can come suddenly too.

Western society saw change occur at breakneck speed in the 1950s, when we went from the rationing of World War II to such disposable affluence that planned obsolescence was openly celebrated: buy it cheap, buy it new, keep up with the Joneses. … But the biggest change of the 1950s was that collective selfishness fell upon us. People spent money, and votes, on whatever ticked the “What’s in it for me?” box.

https://time.com/5864674/climate-change-action/

About the cover of this special climate edition

Time Magazine’s new cover is both beautiful and terrifying

“The July 20/27 Time cover was painted by artist and scientist Jill Pelto, who often incorporates scientific research and data into her watercolor paintings. “It has been a tumultuous year, but underlying currents of positive action are surfacing rapidly,” says Pelto on the magazine’s website. “The reality of this data may be frightening, but there are messages for hope within.”

Indeed, not every upward gradient in the painting is designed to be horrifying. While sea level and global temperature are shown to be rising, so too is renewable energy consumption. And C02 emissions even see a sharp decline in 2020, reflecting the “projected 7% drop in 2020” as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Above the painting are the words “One last chance: the defining year for the planet”.

– Daniel Piper at https://www.creativebloq.com/news/time-cover-july-2020

Jill Pelto’s promise: “I created a new watercolor painting features on TIME July climate issue!! It depicts a critical grouping of climate data dictating our present and future action. I’ll share the data sources on my website asap (https://t.co/bVClwGfzCR ) https://t.co/pymu4G7ao2 July 9, 2020

– Pat Adams

Despite pandemic, pollution and panic, we are making progress.

The first Earth Day in 1970 launched a wave of action. During the 50 years since then, we have made many improvements and learned a lot about what more is possible. The pandemic has forced us to slow down and reconsider what is most important to our hearts and minds. Amid the suffering, there is reason to hope.

For Earth Day 50, let’s focus on good news. Even when it seems that all progress has stopped and the flame has been doused, it is possible to rekindle the fire for change and rebuild our momentum toward a world where we can survive and thrive, one that works for us all.

• Good: Landmark environmental laws have been passed in the US and many countries worldwide.
• Goal: Use that framework, built by hard-won experience, to tackle our global climate crisis.
• Action Ideas: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2020/

• Good: We know once again what nearby mountains and landmarks look like. Thank the “Stay Home” order for that.
• Goal: Let’s reshape our post-pandemic lives to keep the skies clear.
• Action Ideas: When it is once again safe to join friends and coworkers “out in the world”, let’s create more earth-friendly customs and habits.

• Good: We actually have ability to make energy from the sun and wind.
• Goal: Make freely available and renewable resources the default in our structures.
• Action Ideas: Huge leap in solar power: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-020-0598-5

• Good: Voting age is now 18. Momentum from the first Earth Day spurred ratification of the 26th amendment in record time.
• Goal: Register! Elect a government whose priorities align with yours.
• Action Ideas: Consider Pogo’s wise words for the first earth day in 1970.

– Pat Adams