Two Friends Who Have Passed

In the last month I have lost two individuals who I barely knew. Both of them were inscrutable, in a sense, one (Vicky Marie Wiegand) was a valued person of the community in which I live, the other a cat who was a drop off out here in Otter Creek in the midst of Winter. Although it may seem far fetched to combine them in this tribute, I hope I will be forgiven for doing so.

Vicky was a woman who had many careers and who played bass in a band I was privileged to hear three times. She was a survivor who lived with and fought breast cancer for 15 years. She had been a Mother and Grandmother, worked at many different jobs, a literacy volunteer and master gardener. She is survived by a loving family and many friends, including her life partner, Terri Golen. Vicky died on March 4th of this year, 2012.

A long haired black cat was found in our garage a few months ago. She was haggard, extremely thin, cold of course, and very weary. I was bound and determined to help her survive and have a life. She was accepted by the two corgie dogs in their cold garage setting, sharing a plug in heating pad and bed when things were really cold. She gained weight, showed a very feisty, individual self, and I started calling her Coal. By the time I took her to the Vet, she had socialized herself further and grey hair was coming through her black fur. Coal died on April 9th, and was buried the next morning; she had become more and more playful with the dogs, and my guess is that one of them killed her when the play might have gotten too rough.

I don't know whether Vicky had a totem animal, but in writing this account I wonder if it could have been a cat. She was an innovative person, seemingly unpredictable and yet extremely reliable with her friends and family. She and her partner built an off-the-grid solar home in Downing, Wisconsin, had a small, CSA vegetable farm, and shared a "wide variety of tomato starts" with their many friends. She travelled to Central America as part of her life and work with the Farmer to Farmer Coffee organization.

I wish these two could have known each other. They are deeply missed, and will be in people's memories for decades. Both were buried on their home turf; Vicky within a green burial on her own and Terri's land, Coalette in a shallow little grave which will soon see the addition of a fruit tree or bush as a part of that. The inscrutability of death is a part of their present legacy, one of the many tough lessons of impermanence.

* Cats Under the Stars was a rock band from the Iron Range, may they rest in peace, and most of the members are still going as I understand it. Highly recommended is band leader Paul Metsa's book, "Blue Guitar Highway."