Well, June did not disappoint. :) In a year of busy month, this was also a busy month, however, one with some welcome breaks thrown in! It started off very brightly, more or less following on from a sunny and warm May, and then cooled down somewhat dramatically, thanks mainly to some rather welcome rain, but perked up again towards the end :).
The biggest news of this month of course, was the parents' visit! After 7/6 years! Which, particularly the time dilation caused by Covid, feels like absolutely forever! But they're here. They seem to have fallen in love with the place all over again (Norway that is), and seem to be enjoying staying at the new flat. But the time has really flown and it's almost time for them to head back again...
The highlight of the highlight though, was the short by relaxed train trip to Bergen and Flåm we went on earlier this week! Long train trips already kinda make trips more chilled I think. At least in Norway. I mean, things could get delayed, but at least you have a reasonable chance of alternative transportation and some level of assistance.
We'd picked day trains intentionally because the trip across the country to Bergen is genuinely one of the most picturesque ones. The trip out also followed parts of previous cycling trips we'd done, and it was fun finding some old stretches of tracks or roads we'd cycled. On the way back we even decided to take the detour down to Flåm!
The weather stayed kind to us the whole trip! Even the days in Bergen! We spent the time mostly just leisurely exploring the city including the bird's eye view from Fløyen. Flåm and the train rides along the Flåm valley were picturesque on a whole different level. I'll probably get to the many many photos at some point :).
The last couple of weeks seems to have pushed the rest of the month more or less out from my mind a bit. But there was a hurried trip to Stockholm for work. And there's been some cycling, mostly to and from work when the weather has allowed.
I did finally finish reading Murderbot. System Collapse being another full length novel rather than a novella gave me a bit more time with the characters I suppose. But the whole compromised SecUnit thing kinda put me off a little bit I think. Other than that the story was fun, the action fast paced and I'd definitely read more about these characters if Martha Wells decides to write more about them :).
I have to admit in the end I decided to give up on Ken Liu's short stories part way. I guess partly I'm not really spending that much time reading just this minute, but also, I really wasn't in the mood for the somewhat darkly introspective if beautifully written stories... maybe I'll pick it up again another time.
And just like that half the year has gone. Raced by completely. Wonder what the final half will bring :).
