#bad wind

[adore-gregor]

Ski jumping dictionary:

Wtf?! = Wind the fuck?!

Example: "This competition is so unfair, all my faves didn't make it to 2nd round. I mean wtf?! Wind the fuck?!

[thechangling]

Bad wind....

The UK tonight is currently being battered by winds up to 100MPH! I would just like to apologise to anyone affected by this.... I KNEW I shouldn't of eaten that curry.... ;-)

[wind-wave]

but it's stupid. i mean... arts did't made nothing wrong for me, i must be tolerant, and be calm and...

just not pay attention on this .__.""

oh, well. if you read this, it means, that it's not about you .___.  

[alwaysgreeneyes-blog]

it was a bad wind

This was one of the first pictures I took on the way in to Acoma, New Mexico, about two years ago now. Of all (five? six?) years of exploring the Southwest with my family, this place was one of my absolute favorites. A small bus drove us to the top of the mesa, where the skies really were as blue as these, and there was a serenity unlike anywhere else I've had the pleasure of being. Only a few Native Americans lived there, quietly standing in adobe doorways or manning small tables that were humbly stocked with pots and jewelry they had handcrafted on quiet days in the sun. Still, the peace they seemed to have with the simplicity of their lives and their craft was astoundingly beautiful to me. It was a small place, with vast opportunities to look and to feel, but little to do (for a visitor). I don't need to DO anything, though. I would go back right now.

Today in my Cultural Foundations course, we watched a video about the Spanish conquest in the South during the 16th century. It was told from the Pueblo peoples' point of view. A majority of them were from Acoma, and seeing that name alone made me smile. My teacher asked my class of about twenty if any had explored any pueblos like Acoma before. I was the only that raised my hand and said, "It's so beautiful."

For the remaining hour of the video, I was hooked. I'm not a huge sucker for history, but I was filled with joy to know and be reminded that I had walked that same Earth that the Native Americans were talking about so beautifully. Of course, while visiting, I learned a lot of these customs and those landscapes. But when you're back sitting in a classroom in urban Texas, it just seems that much more beautiful. I witnessed a culture that loved life in a lot of ways that I do, and I tread the same Earth and even looked into their eyes. While my classmates were fighting to stay awake, I was struggling to not get teary when I learned what we had once amounted these people to, in a time that they called "The Bad Wind".

Of course, I understand that it was all somewhat necessary to reach the point that we are today. But in remembering that pieces of this culture still thrived, and I have been lucky enough to share their reserved space with them, I felt privileged. I bought a bracelet of blue and pink string from an older Native American lady in Acoma. The wind took it off of my wrist within the day, when I wasn't looking. After watching this video, I felt a sense of peace about losing that bracelet that I hadn't felt before. We, my ancestors (some of which were Spanish), were that bad wind to a group of people who had always found peace in every other gust. I know I will never 110% personally be connected to what happened, but in a way, it felt like my bracelet going back to the earth was an okay thing after all. I hope it found its way like the Indians believe all things do, and as mundane/almost ungodly boring as some of these required courses might be, I'm really grateful for this one, and the reminders it gave me today.