One of my first projects at Goble Properties was to build an industrial complex on a piece of land in San Jose. It was a weird shaped parcel, but a good location. The project was big enough to test me but small enough to get my arms around.
A curious thing happened when the buildings were framed. A huge wind storm came through and knocked everything over. Boards and planks were piled up like so much drift wood pushed ashore by rough seas. Nobody had ever seen anything like it, and the consequences set everything back by weeks. Not to mention the cost of buying a lot more lumber.
But we did rebuild, and those buildings are still standing. I drive past them a few times a year and smile at the memory. I have a hard time believing it actually happened.
This year is going to be a windy one. Of course I’m not talking about meteorological events, though that could happen. No, I’m talking about the winds we can expect in culture, politics, and national shifts. We can expect a lot of disruption and frustration, a lot of things that seem to shake our foundation. No matter our political or cultural viewpoint, there will be things that feel threatening.
But as we did some four decades ago with a pile of broken boards, we will rebuild. And a few decades from now we will look back and shake our head at the oddity of it all.