For Global Astronomy Month 2020 (94) - Homage for Supporters of Astronomy

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (text) and Valentin Grigore

Published: Monday, November 30 -0001 00:00

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Astronomy is not a very profitable job or is an expensive passion that takes much time, so sometimes we should express our gratitude for those who don’t practice astronomy, but help the sky lovers to do it. 

Thus, they become indirect supporters of astronomy. 

For me, the best examples until 2009 were my departed parents. 

In between 2009 and 2017 they were replaced by my mother’s sister, nicknamed Tanti Sila (age 90), who became a kind of adoptive mother for me and, through her devotion to my practical life, helped me to obtain time to become an active contributor to AWB Astropoetry Blog and to make other projects. 

And I thank her very much for this.

Unfortunately, now the doctor says that, after a recent cerebral attack, she lives her last moments.

So we decided to make a tribute to her (4 haiku poems and photos 1 and 3 by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe, design and photos 2 and 4 by Valentin Grigore), which is also homage for all those who have given support to the sky lovers.

As a believer and keeper of old Romanian traditions, Tanti Sila surprised me in 2014, when she made a traditional cake for a requiem (for her departed son and my departed parents) in which she symbolized Saint Sun as a cross in cosmic ambient.

Although today many of the folk traditions have become astromythology, they remain also old pages of astronomy evolution, so that Valentin Grigore and I tried to complete our tribute and composed a haiku for Tanti Sila’s… astral traditional work.