where others come for vacation ...
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My Soul-sista Andrea is doing a Puja at her Hergiswil Yoga Studio. She's a big fan of Hanuman - the Legendary Son of the Wind God and is doing to Puja to honour him and all the other Natural Forces and seek their Blessings.
Big fluffy clouds of Snow are falling down as i drive carefully to her Studio. Andrea has heartfully decorated the studio for the ceremony..
The Prayers, Hanuman, Buddha, Nataraj, the chanting, Krishnadass, Harmonium + her Voice from the depths of the Heart = Goosebumps, Blessings and Smiles..
Such a Honour to be part of the Soulful Ceremony replete with captivating chanting!!
Thank you Andrea, for the Invitation!
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We wake up to find everything covered under a blanket of Snow... mmmm.. finally it's beginning to feel like real Winter. Watching Snowfall is magical, especially if one can do it from the warmth of the home while sipping Hot Chocolate... 
It's very quiet in the late afternoon as we step out for a walk along the lake. Snow has this quality of absorbing everything.. Peace, Quiet, Stillness, our footsteps, Lake, Ducks, Snow and a Bird flying above...
Hello Winter Wonderland!!
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Christmas is not complete without a visit to our Christmas Tree up in the woods of Klewenalp. As has become our tradition now, we pack some of the yummy cookies we'd baked yesterday, a squirrel candle and some Glühwein and off we go to pay respects to our Tree!
It's cloudy, grey and cold on Klewenalp as we get off the cable car. That implies "Not too many people up there" - there's a silver lining to everything, night wahr? As we pass by the Klewen-Kapelle, we run into Vreni. She is up on Klewen for the holidays with her grandchildren. She has been hiking up here earlier this morning. We tell her about our Christmas Tree and the cookies and Glühwein we're carrying with us. She hopes she will find our Tree some day while on a hike.
There's always soon much peace around the Christmas Tree.. I look around, hardly any snow this year. This is the fifth Christmas and the ornaments are still hanging there - even the paper garlands. Lukas jokingly remarks "Wonder what they mix-in with paper in the US? These garlands should've decomposed by now!"
We light the candle, add the new ornament (a white angel), offer our Prayers and bite into the cookies --- mmhhmmm.. they're delicious!! The hot Glühwein makes them even more delectable
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It's Christmas Eve. Inspired by Elisabeth's Christmas cookies, Lukas and I plan to bake cookies today. Lukas leafs through his Mom's cookie recipe book to find the right ones.. It's the first time I'm going to bake Christmas Cookies, so I'm excited.. but first we need some Fresh Milk and Eggs.
So off we go to Helen (Our Dairy Farmer) to get some of her yummy fresh milk. We stop by at Thomas Nann's Farm to pick up a bottle of "Rosoli" (Walnut Liquor) to bring her as a "Thank You" Christmas Gift. Thomas loves to talk and we end up spending over an hour with him... hearing about this or that. I usually have a hard time understanding his Swiss-German dialect. Finally, we wave him good-bye and wish him "Frohliche Weihnachten" and head towards Helen's Farm.
Since we have cookies to bake at home, i say to myself that we will just pick up the milk and leave. Usually we chat a bit with her too. Unlike people in US, folks here in this Swiss village have Time - a chance encounter on the road is usually 30 mins or more. At first, i would be a bit impatient, but slowly I've learnt to let go & just be - even if i don't understand the conversation completely.
Read more: Cute, Fluffy and totally Cuddly Surprises: Dec 24