Resembling equilibrium

White wine, raspberries, friends, a trampoline at night, awful sunburns and lots of giggles. One of the best weekends of the summer is over, and my working hours are yet again scribbled all over my day-planner. As saying I'm busy nowadays, is the understatement of the year, I'm not ranked as #1 of Active Bloggers of The Year. But hell, it's summer. I'm having a good time, and even though Norway still is holding its breath, I hope your lives are somewhat good as well.

To do something on your own

A few days ago I packed a bag of clothes, some food and a hella lot of tea, and decided to leave civilization for a while. So I took my rusty old car and drove into the woods, my destination being a little cabin at a lake. No electricity, no internet, just... silence.

My next door neighbor was a jittery squirrel - a bushy tail that never seemed to stay still for more than a few seconds. But I guess that's what being rather close to the bottom of the food chains does to you, isn't it? Another acquaintance I made was a bit more self-confident: the beaver. Holy hell on a fish stick, who knew they could swim so fast? It was like a little boat/submarine that crossed the lake, somewhat molested a few bushes and continued into the moonlight.

A solitary vacation without a laptop, good cell phone reception or anything as fancy as a toilet you can flush, might seem like a dull thing to do on your days off. But nay. I caught, killed and cooked my own dinner (but must admit that the size of the fish kind of forced me to be generous with the vegetables on the side), I finally got to read a few books I've been eager to plow through (ah, nothing like reading a good book on gender mutilation on Norwegian/Somalian girls, or a family drama from Iran, stretching over a few decades), and I realized that the radio plays a lot of shitty music during a normal summer day.

But you know what? It was good. Both my body and mind needed some relaxation, some silence. I've grown up in these areas, and I do feel at home here. However, you can get too much of a good thing, so tonight I'm trying to even it out. Oslo, Harry Potter, dinner out, romance - here I come. Yum.

Summer strawberries

Summer, the real core of the summer time, begins when the Norwegian strawberries are not only edible, but also sweet and juicy. As they are now. The sun may scorch (but hah, since when was that a persisting thing in a Norwegian summer?), the grass might be green and the sky might be blue. But it's not quite there, not quite, until I've got strawberries in my hands, in my mouth, all over my face, everywhere. And now, now the summer's on for real.

So I'm going to pack up my backpack with books, strawberries and happiness, and head to a cabin in the forest for a few days. Fishing, swimming in the lake, generally loving life. I even envy myself a little bit right now. Hope you all have some wonderful days yourselves - go buy a basket of strawberries and smile a little, go, go, go!

The end of the rainbow

Get off work at 23, and begin the next day at 07. Coffee cups, coffee cups, coffee cups. In a ever so distant future, there is a big pot of gold waiting. But damn, right now, the end of that rainbow seems far away.

And ah, it's almost a month until I'm a student again. There should be alarms howling "geek geek" with a red flashing light at the moment, but I actually miss university. (I will deny having uttered anything close to this when I'm up to my neck in books and papers though. I'll deny it like a frenzied ferret. Rrrrahh.)

Oh god. I should sleep a little while.

Little moments

When I turn my head, you've fallen asleep. We were just resting for a while, listening to the whisper of the waves, the chanting of the gulls. Over our heads the sun was scorching, I think about sunscreen for a millisecond, but then I realize I don't give a damn. The air is humming with insects, with the scent of flowers and the occasional breeze that makes the heat bearable. No, scratch that. You make the heat bearable, we make it bearable. The dulled sound of waves lazily hitting the rocks makes it bearable. So I close my eyes and let the gentle unconsciousness of sleep take me away, while your head moves by the rhythm of my breath. You're resting your head on my stomach, I'm rested by the fact that you're with me, and I fall asleep.

In the middle of the sea, there is a heaven

What you see here, is summer perfection. It's tiny islands, it's the sea, and it's the sun. It is the Åland Island, in the western archipelago of Finland. And it's where part of my family comes from. Over the years it's been the base of everything from pirates to munks, fishermen and tourists. It's amazing, and tough at the same time. (When members of your family die out there, you have to dig the grave yourself, ring the bell by your own machine. Do it yourself - or it won't be done.) Sounds like a brutal place, but I can assure you - it's heaven.

Personally, I have my base at an island called Kökar. A unique kind of scent seems to linger there - flowers and dirt, cows and trees. Everything that's good in the summer. While I was out there, I think I mainly lived on a diet based on tea and ice cream, as Finland kicks Norway's ass in the making of ice cream cones and things to put in them. That, and liquorice. Finnish people make some mean liquorice. Ah, there's so much good to say about this place, but I think I'll just let you see the pictures and use your imagination. Do it.

And the summer days come and go

Hope you're all having a wonderful summer out there, I know I am. Just got back from Finland (or the Åland Islands to be specific), the most wonderful archipelago in Scandinavia. Do I have pictures? Of course! Will I post them? Duh. I'll just have to sort out the bunch first. And the rest of those from China. It's strange how you seem to have all the time in the world, yet never get anything done. It's summer, that's just how life goes at this time of year.



Ah well, I promise I'll be a more disciplined blogger one day soon. But not now. It's a summer night, it's one of my days off, and life's good. Can't spend a night like this stuck inside, all sober and dull, now can I? Toodeloo.