Darkness into Light

 I've had a pretty good pandemic: 

• retired in a nick of time to avoid having to teach by Zoom;
• have a hella big garden up behind the house; 
• had a Brexit fusilli mountain, so didn't need to shop
• Bobby-no-pals
• gorra Vax-1

But I appreciate that others are less fortunate, at least partly because covidization has closed down a bunch of social and medical services. Not that we were ever much good with handling mental health in Ireland. Plenty of cash for organ-transplants and hip-replacements; much less for The Black Dog. Since 2006 Pieta House has been trying to fill some of the suicide prevention gaps for which we-the-taxpayer seem unwilling to pony up the cash. They have a network of 200 therapists and bereavement counsellors across the country. Note: those left behind need as much help as the unfortunates who can't take any more and Go. Lithium doesn't work for everybody and therapy takes time, and therefore money. Advocacy is important and a good image helps a lot: the golden lad Bressie personalized his mental health issues as Jeffrey and used his platform to bring these issues into the light.

Pieta House had a cunning plan in 2009 when they launched Darkness Into  Light  with a 5km dawn-greeting walk in the Phoenix Park. 400 people turned up. Today's event Today is hoping to involve 200,000 people worldwide and raise €5,000,000. Today they were a little shy on numbers but [€6,345,852] cup runneth over for payola.  You've missed the dawn but it's not too late to contribute! #darknessintolight2021   The Beloved is more capable of forward planning than me, so she sent the cash in good time, and we've got the tea-shirts; and importantly it's been on the Kitchen Kalendar [R] for a month. We got the times of twilight

• 04:06 nautical twilight
• 05:03 civil twilight
• 05:41 sunrise 60° NE

and we were All Set to trek up the hill and watch the sunrise from St Fursey's Altar. Friday the Seventh would have been a perfick day for such a venture but we're both institutionalised and must do it when told. However, when we were startled awake by alarums at 0400hrs we could hear the rain hosing down outside; and Met Eireann said [L] it wasn't about to let up any time soon. Pieta will be served nothing having Darby O'Bob and Joan ní Salann get soaked to the bone while viewing a sunrise that ain't gonna happen this morning in Ireland. Tomorrow!