October 30, 2020
This is the last of my on-site San Francisco reports, I will be driving home next week. It covers part of a neighborhood, Haight-Ashbury, that was synonymous with San Francisco for us European kids in the 60s, home to musicians, hippies, flower power and other cultural aspects that defined some of our youth.
It was the America of our imagination and our dreams, naive as we were, having no clue how diverse a country this is, how diverse even a single city like San Francisco, in its multiple neighborhoods.
More importantly, it is the neighborhood where my local land-lady and overall fairy godmother grew up, a woman who is the definition of grace, social justice- and civic – engagement, as were her parents and her 8 siblings, by all reports. Thank you for all you did for me in these difficult months, Purcell! Your wit, your wise counsel and your cooking sustained me.
My walk today never took me to Haight street, a central aspect of the neighborhood, but centered on Waller St, Oak St and over to Steiner St in order to explore the famous Edwardian and Victorian houses, called Painted Ladies. The 1906 earthquake spared this area for some reason, so you have an accumulation of old architecture, some imaginatively renovated.
Other are still in various states of decay, but all given towards pastel colors.
Progressive politics can be spied through the windows,
in the name of the local High School ( Ida B. Wells!)
and in the signage on churches, local businesses and bars.
Memories of yore were frequently triggered, although I was so hooked on Frank Zappa at the time, that many of these other bands did not get fair play.
There was something a bit surreal today, wandering in the bright sun and heat while approaching November, with ubiquitous wealth displayed while an unhoused person digging through a public trashcan was yelled at by pedestrians, with an election unsettled while Bernie clings to the window….
A clear signal to witches, ghosts, and other scary creatures that it’s time to descend on us….
Have a safe Halloween. Maybe it’ll provide this:
Meanwhile, let’s fly back in time with Jefferson Airplane….
Steve T.
Ah, again, Friderike, you unearth many fond memories. I lived at 864 Ashbury St., two blocks uphill from Haight, 1963 through 1967, San Francisco State University. My roomies Vicky and Ellen and I had wonderful friends, partied it up, and sang (Vicky now plays guitar and sings Hawaiian traditional songs).
Chinese man who ran the neighborhood corner store said “Oh, Wicky, no beel on erection day.” We laughed for days.
Carl
Thank you for this majestic photo gallery! Love San Francisco and have cherished my time there.