By Jay Skurski
The Buffalo Bills might not be on top of the world right now, but two of their fans came pretty close.
I got the above photo of Alex and Lynn Slanovich emailed to me earlier this season, and was curious about its origins. Lynn emailed me this week to explain. Here’s their story:
“Alex and I are both from the area, he is from Arcade and I'm from Tonawanda. We got married last October and went to Nepal and India on our honeymoon last November. While in Nepal, we went trekking in the Annapurna range in the Himalayas for 20 days. People in the capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu, are mostly Hindu, but in the rural and mountainous regions are mostly Buddhist. Buddhists in Nepal and Tibet put prayer flags everywhere -- but especially on mountain ridges and peaks. The flags are strings of squares in primary colors which represent five elements (sky, water, fire, air and earth) with prayers printed on them -- the idea is that when the wind blows through them, the prayers are dispersed into the sky.
"Alex decided to bring the Bills flag with us, intending to leave it in an auspicious location. The highlight of our trek was crossing Thorung La pass, which is the highest point on a trade route through the Annapurna range where we trekked. You can see from the picture lots of people leave prayer flags at the high point of the pass, which is at 17,769 feet. We left the flag there in mid-November of last year, right around the time the Bills were embarking on that seven-game losing streak … so it seems that patience is a virtue in the Buddhist faith in terms of these prayers being addressed. Or maybe it just takes a really long time for prayers to get all the way to Orchard Park via the wind.”
Lynn and Alex, who live on the west side of Buffalo, are season-ticket holders. You may see them at the Ralph on Sunday. Their game-day vehicle, pictured below, is rather distinctive.
(Photos courtesy of Alex and Lynn Slanovich.)
