I love this time of year. It’s the season when I would most like to be a poet, a painter, an artist…. The colours are spectacular. Even in my small garden Autumn is a presence that raises spirits.

I recently listened to a review of poetry by Rilke and in my google search for some of the poems I found the following….. thought provoking!

Day in Autumn

BY RAINER MARIA RILKE TRANSLATED BY MARY KINZIE

After the summer’s yield, Lord, it is time
to let your shadow lengthen on the sundials
and in the pastures let the rough winds fly.

As for the final fruits, coax them to roundness.
Direct on them two days of warmer light
to hale them golden toward their term, and harry
the last few drops of sweetness through the wine.

Whoever’s homeless now, will build no shelter;
who lives alone will live indefinitely so,
waking up to read a little, draft long letters,   
and, along the city’s avenues,
fitfully wander, when the wild leaves loosen.

In a statement posted this afternoon on his Twitter account, Bernard Brogan announced how “now is the right time …. to hang up the boots.”

Tribute from manager

Social media was soon awash with plaudits of him as a man and as a playet. I particularly liked Jim Gavin’s tribute to him:

“On behalf of the Dublin Senior Football Team and Cumman Lúthchleas Gael Átha Cliath I would like to wish the very best to Bernard Brogan as he announces his retirement from senior inter-county football.

Bernard has had a long and distinguished inter county career representing the county of Dublin, notably at senior level for over 15 seasons. A great leader of the team, Bernard inspired those around him by his actions, resolve and determination to be the best player that he could be for Dublin. The longevity of his inter country career, his collection of medals and awards is a testament to the impact he has on Gaelic games – for that we are truly grateful.

Bernard is an immense credit to his family, friends and club St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh. He is a true gentleman and we all wish Bernard every success and good fortune in his new journey.

Guím gach rath agus beannacht ort agus an turas nua atá romhat amach anseo.

Jim Gavin
Bainisteoir Fhoireann Peile Shinsir Átha Cliath”

(from an article by Fredo Darling · Posted April 15, 2018 on mindgiants.com)

In 1937, on a small farm nearly 200 miles from Moscow, a woman was born who would inspire billions – her name was Valentina Tereshkova.

In 1937, the Soviet Union along with the rest of the world was embroiled in World War II. Valentina’s father, a tractor driver before the war died a hero, one of the 20 million Soviet casualties. From the age of two, Valentina Tereshkova was raised by her widowed single mother.

She learned early the virtues of sacrifice, tenacity, gratitude, and community. At 16, a young Valentina abandoned formal schooling to work at a textile factory just to help lessen her mother’s financial burdens.

Not having some manner of education was out of the question so Valentina enrolled in correspondence learning with her mother helping her with her school work as much as she could, as did their friends and neighbors in their small village.

Beating the Best

In 1962, Valentina was now 25. Aside from her work and her continued assistance to her mother, she was also an accomplished amateur skydiver. She had 126 jumps to her name already, more than twice the boys’ average.

She had heard the news of Gagarin’s first space flight and the space race that had captivated the world. Being a cosmonaut looked hard, demanded sacrifice, and the training required was rumored to be near impossible. Just the type of challenge she was raised for.

Despite having no degree in technical sciences, engineering, or mathematics and no military service, her consistently flawless performance in skydiving caught the attention of Soviet officials.

At the time, space capsules did not hit the ocean gently or land smoothly on some palm-tree lined runway. The early capsules fell straight to the ground from space.

To escape the all-metal human-made meteor, pilots had to blow the escape hatch, eject in their seat wearing their stiff space suits, orient themselves correctly, and open their parachutes – all in a matter of seconds to avoid crashing into the Earth in what was basically a huge tin can.

By the end of her rigorous, nearly impossible training, Valentina had bested over 400 applicants and 5 other female trainees. She would be the first woman (and first civilian) in space.

She was not allowed to tell anyone however. Her “white lie” to her mother was that she was “being recruited to be a parachutist on the Russian national team”.

The Mission

On June 16, 1963, 26-year-old Valentina Tereshkova made history blasting off in Vostok-6 and completed 48 orbits over 70 hours – longer than all U.S. solo male astronauts had spent in space combined.

Her callsign was “Chaika”, or Seagull, and on her way up she could be heard on the radio chanting triumphantly “Ya Chaika! Ya Chaika!” (I am Seagull

While in space, the Soviet government broadcasted a live dialogue with Valentina on public radio, celebrating the mission’s success and touting the bravery of Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first ever woman in space.

In her small village some 200 miles north of Moscow, her mother happened to hear the broadcast. It was only then that she realized her little Valentina was not quite “just going skydiving”. She listened in disbelief as her daughter was introduced to the world as an international hero, live from off this planet.

Landing

Finally time to return home, Valentina noticed something terrifying. Her capsule was not descending back to Earth, but ascending into outer space.

She radioed in her observation and began working with the science teams on the ground. She quickly helped calculate the necessary data in her head, wiped the old data from the computer, and manually input the new data along with the algorithm dictated to her from the ground.

There was only one catch. She could no longer reach the original landing site in Kazakhstan. Her new trajectory had her landing somewhere in remote Siberia far from any rescue teams or recovery equipment. And she would have to land alone.

At 4.3 miles from the ground, with the capsule still nearly 3,000 degrees fahrenheit (1650 Celsius), Valentina blew the hatch.She catapulted out the capsule and landed safely.

Celebrating landing

Upon landing, Valentina took a deep breath and looked around. Beyond the fields and the billowing parachute (and much to her surprise), she saw people running towards her. She had landed near a small Siberian village, not unlike the one she grew up in. They had seen her landing and had dropped everything to come help.

As they helped her break free and brought her to the village, they insisted that she stay for dinner. Remembering her mother and everyone else in her own farming village and thinking back to their hospitality, community, and generosity, she accepted the villagers’ “request” that she join them for dinner despite heavy bruising from her parachute and the immense physical toll of having just landing in their backyard after 70 hours in space. It was their backyard, after all.

It was an simple, ordinary village meal of eggs, milk, bread, honey, and leftover space food Valentina contributed, and it was a supper they would all remember for the rest of their lives.

Women of many nationalities have worked in space. The first woman in space, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, flew in 1963. Space flight programs were slow to employ women, and only began to include them from the 1980s.

2019 Giant Step

However, we had to wait till 18th October 2019 to witness the first all-women spacewalk. Last Friday, Christina Koch was first to emerge from the International Space Station, followed by Jessica Meir. The walk to repair a power controller lasted seven hours and 17 minutes and included a brief call with President Trump.

Gender Milestone

Ms Koch said these gender milestones are very significant as they inspire everyone. Ms Meir praised the efforts of the many women of previous decades who worked to achieve this monumental goal.