It's August 10th and, believe it or not, this little blog turns two today. It's as lovely a way to mark the day as I can imagine. It's warm here today, sweet sun, clear sky, restless ocean, but not many people. Quieter, in fact, than it's been all summer.

Things are winding down here in Malibu, people turning their minds back to school and work. Labor Day, just weeks away, is like a faucet shutting off. Our town goes back to what passes for normal around here, ironic, considering September and even October bring some of the warmest weather of the year.

And fires, though let's not think about that right now. Right now, here's the start of the very first post on this blog two years ago, a time so different it feels like it happened to a different person altogether. Which, when I think about it, it did.

Everyone wants a piece of Malibu, including me. My buying power has proven modest – an aging mobile home on a bluff above the beach. We rent the land. The house sits on metal tripods that shimmy in the slightest earthquake, let the occasional raccoon or opossum rest in the cool darkness. Their smell moves through the air vents, a pungent musk that can’t be anything but wild animal.

When the sun goes down, coyotes light up the canyon with yips and howls, bloodthirsty arias that alter your dreams. The cats in the house wake up then, drift to an open window to watch and listen long into the night. At dawn, a membrane of mist...

The rest is here. Thank you for reading, for your lovely emails, for thinking a little blog about this spot by the sea is worth your time. Happy anniversary!

Veronique