Sunny and warm weather triggers a return to simpler - some say better - times, as I muse introspectively about summer, work, and my life.

Yup, it's a non-controversial, State-of-the-Ragnar address, packed with nostalgic romanticisms and an old-fashioned optimism sorely lacking in recent weeks. Just the way you like 'em. Just the way Mom used to make 'em.

Ahem. All-righty. Here we go:

The long walk to work today took me through a quiet city. July is when most Norwegians go on summer holiday, leaving the concrete and the asphalt behind, and setting the course for sandy beaches, wide open mountains, or deep forests. So now every restaurant has available tables, every movie available seats, and every park available benches. You can find crowds where tourists congregrate, but everywhere else the streets are empty, and sounds are muted. For the past few weeks, the weather was moody. One minute the sun might peek through turbulent clouds, the next minute the skies would open up and sheets of rain would hammer the ground, punctuated by streaks of lightning and thunderous drumming. Taking a walk was a precarious business: you never knew what was to come. Fierce winds, an oppressive, humid heat, or a rainstorm to wash you away and drown you. But now summer has returned, and it's right outside my office window. I'm tempted to leave, and I certainly won't be working a full day, nor a full week.

It's lunchtime, and the supermarket beckons.  ¶ 12:08