A nice thing about Oslo is that most of the city is no city. I live in a house not far from the geographical center of Oslo, yet surrounded by forest. With me are two copies of my genes, wrapped for the next generation, named Karianne and Steinar (see  below), their mother, a dog and a cat.

My home office is in the northwest tower at the front of the picture (left). From the tower we see a valley with a large lake and a handful of farms (above). We see far away hills covered with pine trees, and, from the top of the tower, a glimpse of the city and the Oslo fjord. In the winter it all turns white.