Monday, September 11, 1989 I arrived in LA in a storm of traffic. I drove west on the 10 freeway in my old blue Pontiac with the windows rolled down. In the middle of late afternoon rush hour I creeped down Kellogg Hill and into the wide hazy basin . I was undaunted by the blistering heat, the miles of cars barely moving, the smog, my broken air conditioner. I was a new girl in a strange town!
Every September 11th for the last 2 decades I’ve silently marked the anniversary of my arrival. The Moss family was a globe-trotting band of nomads. New schools every few years, new houses, new neighborhoods, new friends. The second I graduated from college I was at it again – on the road to somewhere bigger and brighter. Off to see the world, whether I knew anyone in it or not.
I rented a room from a distant aunt, got a newspaper, a Thomas Guide, marched to the DMV, got a California driver’s license, and one week later started working as a data collector. A visceral loneliness swallowed me whole. During the day I drove from one end of the county to another and at night I came home and wrote in my journal, bit my lip, and tried not to cry. Bravado only gets you so far when you’ve run off to seek your fortune.
On the weekends I conducted full-scale investigations of the city. A map, my journal, and a pack of cigarettes for company. Despite my melancholy, here in the land of the quirky and strange I felt like I’d come home. My people were out here, somewhere. I was sure of it.
7 years now at Moss Cottage. My longest stint ever in one house. Definitely the longest span in one city. The old blue jalopy is long gone. All of the windows roll up on my current car. There’s air conditioning. I’ve had the same job for 15 years. Good friends. A posse of cats. A passport. But give me a warm summer night with no early morning wake-up call and I’m still up to my old tricks. Off alone for a drive. The balmy night air swirling around me like a cocoon. One arm out the window, the other on the steering wheel. Eyes scanning the road ahead. Looking out for my former lonely self pulling up beside me at the next red light. I’ve got a secret to tell her, if she’ll stop long enough to listen. “You’re gonna be here a long time. Settle in.”
My sister just finished this book and she tells me I’ll love it. An LA novel with an interesting cast of characters. It’s gotten mixed reviews, but I have a feeling I’m going to like it. Plus I like the idea of James Frey hitting one out of the park after his last fiasco.
p.s. Happy Birthday Dimitris!!! Say hello to Athens for me.
Wow.
What a great anniversary story.
those lanterns! they make me swoon every time.
Happy Anniversary Mary Ann!
I truly thought you were a NATIVE!
Oh, Mary Ann, how I lust for having wanderlust. Just not in my DNA. If it were left to me to the discover the world for mankind, we all would have made it about 10 blocks. I was an Army kid, moving..new schools, new friends, etc. My parents were major nomads, loved to travel and I wanted nothing more than a hometown. I got one in 1968, also along I-10 and I ain’t going nowhere. I too, however, do like the long drive, as long as I can get back home the same day.
I celebrate your freedom of soul, my nomad amiga! Ride on, girl!!
Dear Mary Ann,
Have been wondering when the connection I sense with you would pop up…..I teach and work with chemically dependent folks every weekend. I absolutely love it…..nursing is a tough gig but this job has been a godsend.
I thrive on synchronicity…..
Missy from the bayou
tina – i was a data COLLECTOR (no entry thankfully) – worked for a team of professors at USC school of medicine on a project studying tobacco & drug use among adolescents…eventually became a health educator writing/teaching/piloting a drug prevention curriculum among continuation high school students. loved teaching. one thing led to another. i’ve always kept a written journal. the visual kind were born about 10 years ago. i like to keep records of things…collecting visual data. to me the visual kind are less about journal and more about collage. i write in mine less and less, but i still love the look of text on a collage -it’s more of a design thing in the visual journal. the writing writing goes into the traditional journal.
Happiest of anniversary wishes Mary Ann. How did you go from data entry to teaching in such a short span of time? And how did you go from straight journaling to art journaling? I love the markers of time like anniversaries, the reminders to reflect on where we’ve been and the wonderfulness of the now.
I just finished reading Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice. Aside from being fun, and brilliantly written, it’s full of LA (even tho’ I haven’t actually been there). You should like it, I think.
Dear Mary Ann,
What truly beautiful words these are honoring your memories. Reading them evoked feelings that will long remain in my heart. I admire you so for your irrepressible spirit, your bravery, compassion and intelligence. Thank you for your gifts of words, images & laughter. XO,S.
Have to say again, Mary Ann, I love love your energy and your bravery. I moved to NYC (but with a husband already) straight out of school. At least in NY when you walk out of the house to go to work you are SURROUNDED by people and life. Cannot IMAGINE that initial loneliness in a car doing that LA thang. Bravo for you. Happy Anniversary. Seems like LA is lucky to have you too.
I read your blog for glimpses of your wonderful journals. Apparently ’89 was quite a year. I too made a big move in October of that year but I went east. Happy Anniversary.
Lovely lovely. Looking back can be a good thing when it is done with such love and perspective. Thanks for being
Happy Anniversary, Mary-Ann! Funny you should have moved to LA in 1989 – I’ll be celebrating 20 years in London in November – I arrived just as the Berlin Wall came down!
I would never have guessed – you seem like one of us native Californians. Glad this is where you dropped anchor and hope you stay for a good long time.
Erin in Morro Bay
What a lovely post.
I too moved to L.A. from a far, far distance – although my experience was so very different. I was completely in love with L.A. and still am. It came together like magic. But I did not stay. Only three years and then moved on. But it has never left my heart and I return to visit as often as possible – twice in the past month actually! For all its flaws and eccentricities there is no other place on earth anything like it.
Also – I recently made a new friend in New Zealand with your same name. Strange synchronicities.
Have loved your blog since I stumbled upon it after your Italy trip.
Kathy
Happy Anniversary! Reminds me of my own anniversary of coming to LA… Was mid June 1984… Can you say “culture shock?” I moved here from Montana! Sooo glad I did what a ride! I am sooo glad our paths have crossed! Perhaps one day we can actually meet in person.
Cheers and hugs,
Brian
Happy Anniversary, my great friend.
Love,
Lewis