Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Technical Notes


I've made a few changes to my blog because I finally can use more functions in Blogspot, now that I downloaded Mozilla Firefox as my browser. I had been using Safari, which wouldn't allow me to do things like add a photo to my header. In Safari, I had to type in the HTML for any formatting, even italics and links. Now I can do these with a click of a button. Another change I made--unrelated to Firefox-- was to list my books read chronologically, rather than alphabetically. So now whatever's at the top of the list is what I read most recently. It's great to be able to make changes*--isn't that the appeal of blogging? I have to admit it was kind of fascinating to delve into HTML a bit, and I have a lot more to learn so I intend to keep exploring. Looking at the HTML coding is is like looking at the underlying structure of a building--and this is the only tenuous connection this post has to the photo of the Conservatory of Flowers above.
*My friend Marmee directed me to a whole new menu I can now access: Font!

When it was beginning to storm here, the first week of January, I tried to go for a walk on the beach, which I like to do once a week at least. But the sand was blowing horizontally and I couldn't take more than a few minutes of it. So I went for a stroll in the Conservatory of Flowers. This was where my husband and I were married nearly 17 years ago, when you could rent it out at night for events. At that time it was somewhat neglected, with lots of missing panes and leaks. My dad cracked, "It's a kind of seedy place to get married!" My grandma had to keep her fur coat on the whole time because it was so cold, even though we rented heaters (it was in March). But my husband and I found its decay romantic, and on a practical note, we didn't have to buy flowers. Our wedding was before the Conservatory was almost destroyed in the storm of 1995, after which a massive fundraising campaign made possible a complete renovation. No they no longer rent it out for weddings. Maybe the thought of that destructive storm brought me to it that blustery day. It was an island of stillness and enveloping warmth. I wandered through the ruffled orchids of the cloud forest and gazed into the lily pond. I took pictures and didn't talk to anyone. I felt like I had returned from somewhere far away when I emerged.

2 comments:

Megan and Ben said...

holy mole, that wedding was 17 years ago? I remember it, it was a great place to get married. And I liked how you guys exchanged lei's instead of rings.

rpnorton said...

Amazing that it was almost 17 years ago. Doesn't seem that long somehow. I remember how cold it was, and how struck the minister was by the long past you share as a couple. As long as we are counting, I suppose the *real* beginning was more like 37 years ago.