The close of the Holyrood session provides a momentary respite from the chaos, a brief interval in the pantomime before the mayhem resumes.

At Holyrood, they are using the summer to undertake restorative work on the chamber itself. Even changing the clocks. Perhaps they might discover a new time zone where the events of the last few years in Scottish and UK politics make some kind of sense.

However, the concept of taking stock has a certain political pedigree. Before assessing contemporary developments, perhaps you might permit a little comparative reminiscence.

The phrase “taking stock” will retain resonance for those of you who remember the 1992 UK General Election.

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You know, when John Major confounded the pundits and the pollsters by securing his own majority, replacing one inherited from Margaret Thatcher.

In advance of that contest, Mr Major sought to assuage opinion in Scotland by promising to “take stock” of the constitution in the light of persistent demands for a degree of Scottish self-government.

Taking stock became a catch phrase, a leitmotif for the prospect of reform short of the devolution of power.

After the election, the then Scottish Secretary Ian Lang duly produced a White Paper entitled “Scotland in the Union: a Partnership for Good.”

Despite the grandiose title, the document generated a squeak, rather than a confident yell. In response to demands for a Scottish Parliament, it offered enhanced deployment of the Scottish Grand Committee of MPs.

Still, stock taking had fulfilled its true purpose – which was to get the Tories through that 1992 election without stumbling over the issue of self-government.

In the longer term, of course, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and sundry others stepped up their efforts to secure devolution through the Constitutional Convention.

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The result, eventually, was the Scottish Parliament we have today. Soon to boast new clocks. My defence for this historical meandering is that I see vague parallels with the situation confronting Humza Yousaf right now.

He too is taking stock. Hoping, in the words of the song, to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.

One snag is that some of the negatives are out of his hands including, principally, the prolonged police investigation into party finances. But that need not mean complete stasis. Politics is always in flux.

Indeed, all of Scotland’s parties are now taking stock to some extent. The Tories are pondering how to sustain a coherent offer to the people of Scotland while simultaneously stifling the discordant noises emerging from their UK party chums.

To help him, Douglas Ross has named a new frontbench team – and handed a significant role, as election co-ordinator, to David Mundell.

Labour’s Anas Sarwar is sharpening his dual strategy of blaming the Tories for the state of the economy and punishing the SNP for the state of Scotland’s hospitals – while seeking to minimise any cross-border party policy glitches.

The Liberal Democrats are searching diligently for issues of relevance to Scotland which can give them the traction to match the relative success of their party at the English local elections.

And the Greens? Despite the pasting dished out to their Minister, Lorna Slater, over the deposit return scheme and, now, the abandonment of the marine conservation plan, they remain upbeat.

Perhaps with good reason. Deliberately or otherwise, the Greens offer us a degree of expiation from any residual guilt arising from our carboniferous behaviour.

Still, the U-turn on Highly Protected Marine Areas is politically significant. For the SNP and Humza Yousaf. The marine plan was cherished by the Greens.

Partly, the SNP move to dump it is an electoral calculation. It reflects the fury it produced in fishing and island communities, many of which vote SNP.

But I think there is more happening here – and it relates to stock taking. Humza Yousaf is reminding us that big parties have rights too.

I noted, for example, that, facing chamber questions this week, he repeatedly used the phrase “the SNP-led Scottish Government.”

I am sure that was a deliberate restatement of his party’s Holyrood status. He wants to clarify the nature of the Bute House agreement with the Greens. It is not a coalition of like-minded equals.

It is a pragmatic pact, no more. Of late, the Greens have spelled trouble for him, most obviously through the Deposit Return Scheme.

Yes, he can and will blame UK Government interference but he also has the report saying the plan was in difficulty long before that Westminster intervention.

However, to be clear, the SNP is not about to abandon its environmental credentials. Only this week, we had the initiative on tackling disposable vapes.

This is definitely not like Downing Street under David Cameron when a cynical insider detected an effort to “cut the Green crap”. It is, however, an exercise in eliminating the negative.

Most simply, Humza Yousaf does not need a fight with the fishing industry to add to his extensive list of woes. He needs a few smiling faces.

I expect there will be similar efforts to refocus other priorities – although he has a legacy problem with regard to ambitious promises.

For example, the Tories are challenging Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth over her assertion that there is progress in closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

One government insider hinted to me that it might have been better had the original promise been more narrowly focused, perhaps emphasising university access.

Then there is that other battle, the court appeal over Westminster’s veto on gender recognition reform. Privately, I doubt if Humza Yousaf would shed many tears should the Scottish Government appeal fail.

He would hate losing to Westminster – but he would get over it, comforting himself with the thought that a tricky political problem is shelved.

Then there is independence. The FM plans a summer of public persuasion and an autumn rally under Believe in Scotland, his campaign group of choice.

His critics say the last thing Scotland needs is further discourse about the constitution. But Mr Yousaf has twin aims in mind: to placate his zealous party; and to persuade other independence supporters to stick with the SNP.

In short, he wants both his party and the Scottish people to take stock of their situation.