I heard the mermaids singing ...

Happy Birthday Russ!

Thanks, Froz. And a very happy birthday to your lovely son as well. Lucky kid to have such an obviously fortuitous birthday.

"I heard the mermaids singing"

You may need to adjust your medication, owlmother. I stopped hearing them after an extra 20 mg. But then, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.

No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool.

I grow old... I grow old...
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.