Hope you’re all enjoying your summer!

Well, 7 months later and we’re still settling in after our move from southern California; and not only that, but we might just be one step closer to being officially “Portlanders”: about two weeks ago my wife spent the entire weekend planting two small gardens in our backyard with her mom. So hours of hard labor and about $150 later, we now have TONS of veggies and herbs growing in our yard: tomatoes (okay, so technically it’s a fruit), all kinds of peppers, lettuce, bok choy, Japanese egg plant, basil, cilantro, watercress, green onions, leeks, garlic, broccoli and a bunch of other stuff that I can’t quite recall at the moment. I actually used some basil from the garden the other night for a Japanese dish I was cooking. How cool is that?

(By the way, is it just me or is there something very zen about preparing and cooking Japanese food? haha)

As you can see as well, I included some pics of the cute little house we’re renting in Portland. I have a severe aversion to the 1980′s stucco covered homes that are so prevalent where we used to live, so I can’t tell you what a breathe of fresh air it is to live in a home covered with actual wood paneling, not to mention that also has a cute (and usable!) front porch and beautiful wood fencing and gates around the perimeter of the property. And how about that landscaping? Nice, right? Originally a 1923 bungalow, our awesome landlords did an amazing job with the complete remodel they did just before we moved in.

And just because no “Fatherhood Chronicles” post would be complete without pictures of my son, here are a couple different kind of photos of “him”. As much as I enjoy (and need) the time away from him when he’s in daycare so I can focus on my work, seeing idle toys in the yard and around the house like this always makes me miss him immensely.

My wonderful letterpress printer, Lynn Russell of Satsuma Press, is holding a raffle for her 6-year old son, Liam. Liam has a neuromuscular disorder called Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2, which has required Liam to access his environment via a special motorized wheelchair for the last 4 years or so, and the money raised from the raffle will be used to remodel Liam’s bathroom this summer in order to make it more accessible for him. The raffle is being held until May 9th.

As another way to enter the raffle and offer your support of Liam and his family, you can also post about the raffle on your blog or via your twitter account and then let Lynn know about it by email. More details can be found here.

Your help and support is appreciated. :)