Friday December 23rd - Blue Crystal Storm
Starting the morning with exercises for my knees that Leila advised me, and following it with full Primary Series, I had not tried drop-back since my wrist injuries and it goes fin today. Since I left Prague I am back on a morning yoga practice, regularly 5 to 6 days a week. While having my regular müesli based breakfast, Leila explains me the nutritious advantages of germinated sprouts, the cereals they transform in flour or flakes just before use. They make their own bread, have sausages from their animals -pigs and goats-, and of course eggs of their chicken. All of it is organic: they are an organic farm. Austria has the biggest rate of organic farm production in Europe. I give my hands for house-holding tasks and construction work. Being here is a great opportunity to learn manual tasks, notably about organic farming: it is on my list of needed skills under "sustainability and self-sufficiency". I feel at ease in that atmosphere, amongst the people, pets and farm animals. After diner we gather by the fire place, around red wine, talking, playing...

Friday December 24th - Yellow Cosmic Sun
This morning I manage to be done with yoga earlier so that I can help feeding the animals: they have three pigs, chicken, goats and a sheep. After that it is time for 'früstück', literally 'early piece', which is rather late here, nearly 13.00! Meanwhile, my stomach screams for hunger. There comes kefir with fresh flakes, home-made rye bread and butter to satiate me. There is more construction work to have rooms ready for guests coming during the feast days. It is already Christmas eve! I am still planning to be in Vienna for New Year, let’s enjoy being here for now. After diner we wait for a bell to enter the evening gathering room, decorated for Christmas. It gives rise to a magical atmosphere with a fully garnished tree, Christmas songs, cookies...
It is the first Christmas I spend away from my family. In a parallel universe, I had planned to be near Bulgaria at that time!

Saturday December 25th - Red Magnetic Dragon
After my morning yoga I am starved again. The breakfast is long and feeding, adding sausages and cheeses to the regular kefir, bread and butter. Yannic suggests to ice skate on the little pond. And up we go on this tiny iced spot, turning around and snow-ball fighting. Good fun! In the evening, we play carrom and watch movies, this is always a nice moment which lasts long in the night.

Today is Christmas, no big news for most readers. It is also the beginning of a 260-days cycle of the Maya named Tzol'kin, made of 13 wavespells of 20 days, the date next to the Gregorian date in this journal. The Maya cycles rely on observations of phenomenon seen in nature and in the sky while the Gregorian calendar is an artificial construction.
There is an energy carried in each wavespell for whoever wants to attune to natural cycles. It is true, I have sensed the energy for certain wavespells. This new cycle starts at the moment I feel like staying longer at this place, to learn, rest, enjoy the company, the surrounding nature, let go of control on my trip and schedule. Decision is taken to make Vienna wait.

Sunday December 26th - White Lunar Wind
There are now ten people around the table, besides the family, the two volunteers, a friend from Berlin has joined since a pair of days and a couple from Bavaria just arrived. This makes a multi-cultural gathering. We go out to a small ski station. Hannah is trying the snowboard she got for Christmas under the guidance of her brother Yannic. With the others we go for a walk with two dogs in the snowy forest, it is freezing cold! In the mornings, temperature are below -10ºC

Monday December 27th - Blue Electric Night
It is another nice day, freezing cold outside, warm inside. I am getting in the routine of late wake-up, late breakfast, diner, late evening. I also enjoy the food, it is making a difference when it is 100% organic. There is daily meat on the menu, far more often than on my habitual regime: In the same time I am reading in the Jivamukti Yoga book about non-violence and the necessity of vegetarianism.
It is an interesting situation. The most developed argument is that animals are cruelly mistreated: not only the one transformed in beef steaks and chicken wings -which are not obviously beef or chicken. But also the one producing milk, eggs. Consuming all these products is encouraging harming animals with cruel methods. Certainly not ahimsic - from Sanskrit 'ahimsa', non-harming.
I will counter argue that locally and mindfully produced meat is a different process that provides animal’s happiness to the opposite f the concentration camp based meat industry.
The karmic consequences of these horrible acts are extremely negative. This way, the authors link the mistreatment of millions of animal mothers (for milk and eggs) to the high rate of breast cancer among human. In fact, being vegan is preferable to be vegetarian. Another argument is the massive resources needed to feed the animals that could be used to feed people instead. And the last words are from Pattabhi Jois “Meat makes stiff muscles”.
I am well aware that a vegetarian diet is a necessary step on my yogic path. For the moment I am traveling, discovering new cultures through as many senses as possible and taste is not making exception.

Tuesday December 28th - Yellow Self-Existing Seed
Another regular day. Feeding the goats with hay, onions and citrus. Strange tastes. The son of the family plays guitar and one of them is tuned for right handed -he is a lefty- So we can jam and sing songs together.

There are six cats at the farm, Laura and her kids: Ramses and Cleopatra, who is the smallest one and always comes for cuddles when a human is around. She tries to jump on people, and when it is not possible, she goes down and escalate from the trousers up to purr happy in a shoulder. The black one is Caspera, who can sneak in the house like none other. And then there are Birgin behaving strange when outside, and her son Butterbrot, looking alike his mom. Cats have their time: when they are waiting for diner time, whoever enters their room must be prepared to their demanding eyes and miaowling.

Wednesday December 29th - Red Overtone Serpent
Today we start making new bread. I assist putting the ingredients together and let it grow until next phase. It is rye bread, made without yeast. A longer process, but they have good reasons and know-how. It is an example of their cooking philosophy, which I value very much: to use ingredients as raw as possible and transform them just before use. This way, there is an ideal tracking of quality.