The story: And now the real TAXI story :)

Posted by Claudia Moser on 8:46 PM in Fun with Blogging

The life was simply amazing, the sun was shining, and there was no worry in the world in Macao.

Carefully watching the birds around, scrutinizing the forest. Louis was slowly entering the maze; he somehow felt that he was coming near to his dream. He was curious, intelligent, and stubborn. His journey was long, the Astrolabe ship took him from France to Madeira and Tenerife, then to Trinidad and then to the coast of Brazil including Santa Catarina Island. The captain then moved around the Cape Horn, the expedition landed at Concepción and on to the Sandwich Islands and then sailed north along the coast of north-west America to Alaska. One year later they were visiting Monterey before crossing the Pacific to land in Macao in China.

Now being almost at the end of the world trip, he was analyzing his findings, but still looking eagerly for new specimens especially birds interested him. His dream? To build the greatest collection of birds in the world in the museum. He knew that his innovation, the use of arsenical soap for preserving birds, allowed him to transport the collection back to France.

He was the first taxidermist of his generation, in 1793.

Motto

"A story is not like a road to follow … it's more like a house. You go inside and stay there for a while, wandering back and forth and settling where you like and discovering how the room and corridors relate to each other, how the world outside is altered by being viewed from these windows. And you, the visitor, the reader, are altered as well by being in this enclosed space, whether it is ample and easy or full of crooked turns, or sparsely or opulently furnished. You can go back again and again, and the house, the story, always contains more than you saw the last time. It also has a sturdy sense of itself of being built out of its own necessity, not just to shelter or beguile you."
by Alice Munro

Anonymous says:

8:49 PM

You are quite clever with the words. I like this post. =D

--Diana Jillian

Claudia Moser says:

8:50 PM

Well Diana, it was inspired by my husband, he was the clever one this time :)

Desiree says:

10:31 PM

Indeed a clever rendition of your earlier version of the word taxi. You really do love a challenge !

10:52 PM

@Desiree - I thrive under the sign of a challenge :) Now being serious, hubby challenged me so here it goes!

Belle says:

10:57 PM

I wondered how someone could get the word "taxi" into a story from the 1700s. Very good!

11:00 PM

My husband was the source of this, Belle!

Mojo Writin says:

11:04 PM

*Chuckle* Sneaky hubby! :D Loved this, so evocative with all those exotic place names *hugs*

11:05 PM

Yes, hubby is very creative, wish he would re-start blogging as well!

4:43 AM

Oooh, clever! I loved this, you write beautifully. :)

9:25 AM

@Madeline - thank you! I enjoyed this one!

BB says:

6:25 PM

That was a great story. Never even thought of Taxidermy when I read Taxi.

7:07 PM

Well, what can I say? I have a creative hubby :)

Theresa Wiza says:

4:19 PM

Very interesting. I love stories like this. Reminds me of when I would gran an encyclopedia when I was younger and read the entries in those amazing books.

8:59 PM

@Theresa - thank you, it was fun to post!