Portland feels like a good fit. There’s so much to do here… so many fun things, that I keep having to remind myself that I need to be working… book launches, art openings, museums, restaurants… (Yay!) And I am looking to find a balance of daytime activities and night time work-time. After all, the ideas and good stuff come from doing things… from living life.

The weather has been really warm. I’m not used to 85 degrees and above. I don’t believe that is normal for Portland either… but there’s been plenty of sunshine so the transition has been a little easier… when the rain and drizzle starts up in the Fall, I will remind myself that I was once walking home from the Portland Zine Symposium in 90 degree blazing sun.

Life here in Portland sure is a different experience than living in Salinas, CA. Leaving “freebies” out on street corners is a thing. If you have a box of stuff you don’t want, but want to move on, just stick the stuff in a box with the magic words “FREE” on it… and the stuff disappears. We put out our moving boxes and paper for wrapping out on the sidewalk. People on bicycles, people in cars, people walking by… they made the moving supplies “move on.” Boxes gone. There was a box on the corner (we live at an intersection) of magazines, hats and doodads that disappeared, although it seemed to take about a week… unfortunately, a large ugly orange chair with a busted leg has appeared… and only the neighborhood cat, Phoenix has shown any interest.

In the same spirit, the neighborhoods have many a free library… an enclosed box or some contraption where books live that can go free to a new home. You can also deposit books and CDs in said place. Here’s one with a Doctor Who theme. Yes, there were shelves inside filled with books. It’s kind of fun… it’s like you don’t know what books are being offered and so it’s a bit of a surprise inside.

Since the sun doesn’t go down until 10-ish… people stay out late here. We live near many cool restaurants and a theater and stuff, so conversations can be heard late at night of folks walking by. So far we’ve seen and heard a breakup, many a wailing baby in a tummy pack, discussions about where to eat and other passing by conversations. Also, the sun comes up earlier, and so bicycles and runners and walkers get started early (Laurelhurst Park is just down the road).