NOE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA -- There is no question that the world in which we awoke this morning bore little resemblance to the one that we had once known. Even those not affected directly by the tragedy have heard the knocks and shouts, and have felt the panic coarse throughout their bodies while laying awake listening to the cold squelching of galoshes below. We all have friends, fambly, and loved ones who now face a lifestyle plagued by dampness, and whose only future is a soggy one indeed.
It is too easy, in these trying times, to admit defeat, to abandon wall-to-wall carpeting, or to move to North Beach. It is difficult to accept that the hard things need doing -- let alone to do them. To accept that the vaccuums need renting, that the air needs blowing, and that the rugs need doctoring. We must realize that what we have lost is not anything of lasting significance, only ephemeral physical objects -- psets to pulp.
In the end, the only truly important things in life are already wet.
We must turn our gaze now forward, away from the clouds above Twin Peaks and towards that bright morning sun of the Crocker-Amazon. But before we do so, let us learn from the past, borrow from the wisdom of those who came before us, and take comfort in their resilience.
When the City of San Francisco shook so violently in 1906, did we give up? Did we admit defeat? No! In the words of California Governer George C. Pardee, "This is not the first time that San Francisco has been destroyed by fire. I have not the slightest doubt that the City by the Golden Gate will be speedily rebuilt, and will, almost before we know it, resume her former great activity."
To those who say that 1611 will soak in squalor, that we will be defeated by dankness, or that we might fester in fungus, we have but one response. This is not the first time that 1611 has been destroyed by flood. We have not the slightest doubt that the House by the Unequal Steeples will be speedily rebuilt, and will, almost before we know it, resume her former great activity.
Signed, The Editorial Board 1611 Outreach Club