More unexpected change

A couple of days after I finished writing the previous entry, I woke up to a message from a friend (our barony's social media minister) saying something like, can you please call me when you get up? (It was a Saturday.) I also had an email from another friend (our barony's seneschal) with the subject line "Sad news." Half asleep, I thought that some elderly person who had stopped playing in the SCA decades ago had passed on.

That was NOT the news.

Our CURRENT Baroness had died, most unexpectedly. She was only 53.

At first our social media minister wanted to keep the news off social media, to give the family some space to spread the news among themselves. But by the late morning, Baroness Gracia's Peer (to whom she'd been apprenticed before she became a Peer in her own right) and his wife (also a Peer) posted their heartfelt tribute to her on Facebook, and then the online floodgates opened.

I felt gutted, of course, but I also realized that I had to pull together some sort of tribute for the Drekkar, which is the Barony of Storvik's newsletter. I sent out word that I really wanted some contributions in memory of Her Excellency, and people responded with photos and a recipe. You can read that issue here.

Because Gracie knew so many people throughout the Kingdom of Atlantia, two celebrations of life were organized: one "up north," here in Maryland, and one "down south" at War of the Wings in central North Carolina. The two events bracketed the weekend when her birthday would have taken place. I went to the Maryland service, which was held in modern clothing at a local church. There I met Gracie's older sister and her mother-in-law; the latter is a first cousin of one of my high school classmates up in central Massachusetts. How small this planet truly is!

For the cover image of the November issue, I used Baroness Cassair Warwick's photo of the central table at the War of the Wings celebration of life. The table was decorated with flowers, photos, and an urn (probably Gracie's). But I ended up realizing that if I was to get the issue out in November, I couldn't accommodate all the other photos in my stash. So I decided that I will put out a "special issue" about Gracie early next year and keep the monthly Drekkar focused on current happenings, like next month's Yule Revel here in Storvik.

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Incidentally, my elderly cat, Julia, passed away less than 48 hours after I'd learned of the death of our Baroness. Julia was at least 17 years old and she had been going downhill quite rapidly. To be honest, I think she had been grieving the loss of Nick since last Christmas. She may or may not have known exactly why he went away and never came back, but she certainly missed his presence. And now I miss her presence, as well as Nick's.

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My lack of posting this year has not escaped my notice. I'm certainly not ignoring the SCA -- so far, in 2025, I've been to 14 in-person events (including Pennsic), two demos, and two virtual events. I've learned a new-to-me type of weaving, and I've explored more music and dance.

Perhaps next year, which will mark the 60th anniversary of the SCA, I should post something weekly, even if it's brief. Even if I just say something like, "This week I attended dance practice and finished editing this month's Drekkar." Knowing that I need to post something might help me get off my duff and do more projects, like making new garb.