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MARY ANN MOSS

48 Things

First a small slice of a poem by Mary Oliver.  Let’s start things out right…

 

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

In a few days I won’t be a fortysevenyearold anymore. Inspired by birthday lists I’ve seen all across the cyber galaxy I set forth to cobble together one of my very own.  A plan of what to do with my one “wild and precious life”  before I turn 49 next year.

48 Things

1.  make lemon curd marmalade with lemons from my tree

2.  go see a live performance at the hudson

3.  go on a stairway walk in silverlake

4.  go for a hike at point lobos

5.  take 100 photos at  La Foire Nationale à la Brocante et aux Jambons

6.  roadtrip all the way up hwy 395

7.  make envelopes lined with wallpaper

8.  teach another online class

9.  plant some fruit trees in the front yard

10.  make a blurb book of istanbul

11.  finish the blurb book of the amalfi coast

12.  find the lost coast in northern california

13.  walk through a redwood forest

14.  drink a cup of hot chocolate at Angelina’s

15.  take a spanish class

16.  paint a room pale grey

17.  see death valley

18.  go to a ghost town

19.  bake a blueberry pie

20.  explore an unexplored area of downtown on foot

21.  walk up the hill in back in the middle of the night in my pajamas

22.  blow bubbles out the car window

23.  take a bus somewhere

24.  go for a walk in the rain

25.  put up 2 bulletin boards in art room

26.  clean out the garage.  again.

27.  go camping 

28.  travel to a new city in mexico

29.  pick strawberries

30.  get lost

31.  copy a poem in my journal during a faculty meeting

32.  walk on the beach paths in pacific grove cambria under starlight

33.  meet a stranger for dinner in paris

34.  walk aimlessly around the santa barbara botanic garden

35.  map out locations of leo & pipo’s pasteups in paris.  photograph.

36.  find street art in paris.  photograph

37.  teach myself some manual camera settings

38.  make a wild dance mix cd.  dance to it.

39.  spend a few nights in ojai

40.  read a book by lantern light inside my tent bedroom during a wind storm

41.  roast marshmallows on the back patio

42.  make at least 10 collage panels

43.  move more eat less

44.  plant some herbs

45.  go to san francisco with lianne

46.  stop at a fruit stand

47.  build a campfire

48.  eat a chicago hot dog.  in chicago.

 

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Comments

  1. I volunteer for number 29! Come to Santa Cruz and we can go to Swanton Berry Farm and pick our own.

  2. Happy Birthday, what a great list, better start today so you can get it all done! And have fun,

  3. Wow, what an inspiring list! I’ll be 53 this March…I just can’t even begin to think what this year will bring, and what I want to do! But I’ll begin a list now and starting writing what comes to mind! Thanks for inspiring us!
    Hugs, Heidi

  4. I just turned 48 in December! I absolutely love the idea of making a list of 48 things to do this year! I’m afraid my list will not be as exciting as yours, but it was inspirational. Enjoy your 48th year!

  5. A very Happy Birthday to you Miss Mary Ann Moss! I believe you will achieve your list of 48 things you wish to do in this wonderful life. My beloved sister, also an elementary teacher, has a birthday Jan 12th…maybe you are sisters too (except she will be 71). May you embrace every day of being 48 and celebrate fully. Happy Birthday to you…

  6. i hope you walk up that hill in your pajamas!!!!:) and happy new year and happy birthday to one of my favorite bloggers…blog on girl!

  7. what a great post…
    love the list and happily I have done quite a few of them, most recent chocolate at Angelina’s thanks to you. Seeing Death Valley is a must, just don’t go in August when it is 114 degrees…lol
    Have a great day,
    Catherine

  11. Speaking of street art, have you seen the 20th anniversary edition of Shephard Fairey’s book Supply & Demand? It is amazing. Like a pattern lover’s psychedelic dream world. I bullied my husband into buying it for me even though (because) it was insanely expensive–and I paid full retail for it no less. Ouch! I never do that but I couldn’t stop thinking about it and it was worth every penny (of his money)! I can hardly wait for the snow to melt so I can break out the spray paints again. Right now I’m working on doing some drawings for stencils. That’s one of my goals for the new year: to overcome my fear of drawing. Good luck on your list!

  14. Mary Oliver SLAYS me. Love, love, love this poem, and LOVE that you have posted it! Hope you have a brilliant 48. Do let me know when you’re in Chicago. It would be my absolute pleasure to buy you that hot dog. 🙂

  15. Mary Ann, I had to look up a few things on your list, but I know about lemon curd and lemon curd made with lemons off your very own tree is going to taste like moonglow or star light or sun spangles, i just know.

  16. These are all worthy and wonderful and should be done without fail! Especially remember to blow bubbles out the window of the car. Preferably while your students are watching 🙂

  17. i love every last bit of that list! a very happy birthday to you as well. thanks for all of the loveliness and inspiration you put out for the world to enjoy on your blog…and happy new year, too!

  18. 395 at 2 AM, heading north. Middle of Nowhere. One eye on the gas gauge, which is flirting quite dangerously with the letter E. One eye on the road. Entire being focused on owls. Ghosts in the headlamps, swooping, and swooping again.
    Thank you for reminding me of that.

  19. Hey, wait a minute Cynthia, I was going to volunteer to be the stranger in Paris! Maybe I’ll have to be the stranger in Rome in a different year.
    Anyway, Mary Ann, it looks like you have a full and glorious year ahead of you, and I, for one, look forward to hearing and seeing all about it.
    Buon Compleanno, from the heel of the boot,
    AM

  20. I hereby volunteer to be the stranger you meet for dinner in Paris, just tell me where and when! Of course, we’re not really strangers, we’re already imaginary friends via the wonder of the Internet, but still…
    For #13, I recommend Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island – you drive through and can park your car along the way and walk about. It truly is a magical experience!

  21. Number 13 has been on my list since I was a child. Maybe this will be my year to make it happen. Hunter and I have are Capricorns, too. (18th and 16th) so we all should have a party one of these days! 2012? 😉
    Much love, and happiest of birthdays to you sweet MA. xox S

  22. Have a wonderful birthday! I am working thru my list of “55 Things to do While Being 55” right now and am enjoying it thoroughly. A couple of our list items overlap! May I ask, what is a “blurb book?” Btw, I so enjoy your snippets of poems here. Makes me want to read more poetry. (Maybe I’ll save that for my “56 list!”) Enjoy your day!

  24. Happy Birthday! Your list is inspiring, and I love that you’re planning another online class. I turned 56 on NY Eve, so I’ll likely steal your idea and make my own list :). Love following your blog and your joyful spirit. Thanks for sharing!

  25. Happy Birthday a few days early! Thank you for all the inspiration you provide on your blog and in your classes.

  28. What an excellent list! I love how some of them are so simple, such as stop at a fruit stand, or take a bus. I’ve been to the lost coast in Northern California and it is absolutely beautiful. I wish you the best in accomplishing your list!
    Peace,
    Karis

  29. Ooh – I love your list! You’ve inspired me to make one too even though my birthday won’t show up for half a year. I’m going to start mine with your “make envelopes lined with wallpaper” idea 🙂 Happy early birthday!

  30. Happy Happy Birthday to You!! Sounds like the best year yet! And thank you for the Mary Oliver piece, one of my faves.

  31. Love this! I did a list for before I am 35 ( this March) and I have not as many as I would like, though I still have time.. I think i will do a list more like this 35 things I want to do in that year… Make some of them smaller more simple and some not so much! I wish for you that you have all of this and a very blessed year and beyond!

  33. damn great list! I turn 50 in April…may have to do a list of “50 to do in 50”! Thanks for the inspiration! And yes…another online class for sure!

  34. What a great list! I think I could just adopt your list for my own. If you come to San Francisco I’d love to meet up with you for a coffee or lunch or show and tell art or anything! Happy soon-to-be birthday and good luck with your list.

  36. I found you from Pumpkin Delight. I love your site. I’m going to poke around a little bit, but don’t worry I’ll put everything back where I found it!!

  39. I love your list. When’s your birthday? Mine’s 1/14, and I’ll be HAPPY to help you accomplish #48 ~ just tell me when! Happy Birthday and have a ball crossing items off your list!

  40. Some of our interests overlap nicely, except in my versions there is no travel anywhere, not even outside. 48 is great, come on over! (PS; Paul is mailing my Paris stash pack to you for me today! woo!)

  43. Such an awesome list! And I can’t wait to read about it, when you start doing these things.
    Although I already love what you do with your wild and precious life.

  44. happy birthday mary ann (in a few days). i will be 65 in august and i intend to make a list too!! ( on my list will be to meet mary ann when i am in L.A.) there are just so many fun things to do….and we somehow just forget to do them. thanks for reminding me!! can’t wait for your new class announcement!
    happy 48!!

  45. The Lost Coast is AMAZING and easy to find with an email or some google searching. I drove it this past September and I can’t wait to go back. It’s 100 miles through forest, redwoods, farm country and ocean. Bring lots of extra memory cards and batteries. We shot 3,000 pictures in a weekend. 🙂

  49. Making a birthday to-do list is a wonderful idea and your list sounds fabulous! When you get around to it, I can help with number 12 as I live on the Lost Coast (hence my blog name)…I’m so absolutely blessed to live in such a beautiful place…my kitties and I hope you come for a visit! Love everything about your blog; I check it every morning as an inspirational kickstart for my day!

  50. nice list! inspiring to consider doing one myself, I think I would put put “Make a things to do before next birthday list” as the first item. I remember the SB Botanic Gardens – I visited one autumn, near Thanksgiving. Wonderful wonderful. Just as some people make MLB stadiums around the country a travel goal, botanic gardens would be a good one to aim towards.
    A tough one will be to limit yourself to only occasionally copying poems during faculty meetings (!)
    When my daughter was learning to read she read it as “lemon crud”.

  51. Mary Ann! I love Mary Oliver and I love your posts. Great way to start off the New Year!! Next time you hit a book store look up a poem in Mary Oliver’s “White Pine: Poems and Prose Poems” called “William.” It is a poem about a little boy…its just so dag cute! One of my favorites! Best to you in 2011…Keep your inspirational posts coming!

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