The Frog and Star event is a spring thing. Uncialle's Stronghold has breeding populations of several frogs and toads (not to mention salamanders). Magnus is devoted to the starry realms he views through his telescopes. In the spring, the pale blossoms of antelope bitterbrush send waves of honey-scented air into the night, and Uncialle's frogs and toads ribbit, croak, and trill until after midnight. It seemed appropriate to Magnus and Uncialle to celebrate these magics.

Want to have a frog and star event of your own? Here are some suggestions:

Designate a dark area of your yard for star viewing. If you have a telescope, set it up there. A few glow sticks taped to the telescope stand will prevent guests bumping into it, without destroying their night vision. Glow-in-the-dark basic star charts are very useful.

No telescope? You can see many celestial objects invisible to the naked eye just by using binoculars. Have guests bring their own binocs. For safety, and to read detailed star charts, have guests bring their own flashlights, and provide sheets of red cellophane and rubber bands to place over the lenses, again to keep from destroying night vision. Place a blanket or air mattresses so people can lie comfortably on the ground and look up, or provide chairs.

Inside, set up a terrarium or two. I place a carpet of emerald green moss in a fish tank, put in a small water dish and a rock or two, and grab a couple of frogs just for the night, so people can see up-close the creatures whose songs are filling the air. If there are any hatched, I'll put a few tadpoles in a fish bowl, too. The next morning, the frogs and tadpoles go back into the breeding population.

Display any posters or pictures of frogs and stars, or little frog figures you may have. I have a big ceramic frog custom-made by a friend. He presides over the kitchen island, surrounded by bowls of water and candles. Other frog figures, large and small, are displayed on the occasion, and can be found in house plants, soap dishes, on countertops, marching down the middle of the kitchen table, outside sitting around the ponds, etc.

Strings of green and white lights, inside and outside (away from the star-viewing areas), represent frogs and stars. These can be wound around columns, tacked to boards leaning against walls, and strung through bushes and plants inside and out.

Make some frog and star votives. I buy the large columnar candles-in-glass (religious-sized) at the supermarket and use the candles up. I then fill them with water and set in a kettle of water and heat them until the wax residue rises to the top. After being scrubbed out with a bottlebrush, using hot water and soap, they are ready to decorate. I stick gummed stars to them in random patterns, then spray them with a combination of green (use day-glow or fluorescent green--others are not translucent) and silver paint. I spray the silver on about the bottom 1/3 of the glass column, and mist the green paint onto the remaining two-thirds. Let dry, and then peel off the star stickers. To use, put a votive candle in a small Dixie cup and place inside the glass column. The opaque silver paint at the bottom will hide the candle and its cup. Higher up, candlelight will diffuse through the translucent green paint. All over, candlelight will flicker out through the star shapes. I place these in clusters up the spiral stairs, around the pond, on the picnic table, and throughout the house. The dixie cups contain the wax, causing the votives to burn longer. They can be discarded, and these votives used year after year.

Food! Hot dogs and other picnic foods are fine. We have a fire and roast them. Or you can do a Frog and Star dessert-only party. Here are some food suggestions:

Green lemonade with green ice! Lime jello in a star mold, topped with frogs made from green gumdrops, sitting in whipped-cream foam. Green and white frosted star-shaped sugar cookies decorated with silver sprinkles. A green-frosted cake with water lilies and frogs on top. Green tea! Or make "fake frog legs" by using prepared refrigerated sugar cookie dough (the kind that comes in "logs"). From the dough, roll out long drumstick shapes, flatten, and bake them. Frost with green icing, and perhaps add brown sprinkles or dots of chocolate or dark-green frosting. You can even mold webbed feet on the ends!

Green and white/silver are the themes, so use candles, tablecloths, dishes, or any decorative objects in these colors.

Uncialle and Magnus love books. The Frog and Star is an opportunity for us to have out our frog and star books, placed conveniently where guests can consult them.

The Frog and Star is a great theme for a gathering designed to celebrate a delightful spring evening, and to bring people close to the ordinary magic of springtime. On the night when the Frog and Star sign hangs on the Stronghold's Gate of Doom, green magic reigns!

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