...Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

You have some presence of mind to be taking photos from the ambulance. I hope you're recovering fast.

Will not be surprised if they're eventually studying yours!

There have been periods in my life when I _listened_ to (Strauss's) _Death and Transfiguration_ over and over....

Thank you too!

Happy birthday to him. Both the way you speak of him and the way you _are_ are to his immense credit.

In Milton's "They also serve" I now saw the greatest paean in art to the worth which does not depend on what you do, or what you say, or even who you are: the incomparable value inherent to a life.

...His state
Is Kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.”"

...

"But patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best....

I'd loved people who felt useless, by then. I'd had loved ones in my charge, by then, and when I'd lost them, I'd felt useless myself. And in Milton's once-staid exchange with Patience, I saw something that I have never since seen as anything less. ...

I'd never stopped being lucky. But however old I was the second time around, it was old enough that that feeling wasn't beyond me anymore: one of the foundational poets of the English language, feeling useless because he was blind. ...