...the beach here this morning. Still pretty OK.

Almost as though they knew it's the weekend, the dogs had a celebration on the beach this morning. Walt started it:

But Maisie finished it.

Well done, Tiny Labrador.

PCH just south of Mugu Rock -- still one of my favorite local drives.

As in, we miss her.

A lot.

Morning dog:

Morning mist:

Morning ride:

Morning vista:

Already 83 degrees here at 9 a.m. and...well, I've got nothing else.

Hot. Too hot.

Walter would prefer to chase the ball from the shade of his bunker.

...it was 37 degrees and raining.

Ahhh, fairy tales.

Remember this, the little mountain lake last March?

Now it's this, a little mountain meadow:

Ever since I had to give up on my garden up at the barn thanks to the endless gopher invasion (one time, as I was looking at a lone pepper plant, it shook and poof! vanished into the ground) I look wistfully at this neighboring garden that flourishes without so much as an inch of chicken wire.

Apogee, perigee, frequency -- all I know is this crazy supermoon had the house lit up and the coyotes howling all night long.

Did it rain where you are? Because here in Malibu it rained, which as anyone (almost) anywhere in California knows is amazing.

Sun rose in a cloudy sky, humid and still. Birds sluggish, surf still stirred up by the remains of Norbert. Here's the Cove looking north this morning:

And here's the view toward the pier:

Out to sea is was blue on blue with a sweet salty breeze:

.

Also -- salty dog:

And morning coyotes.

Almost 3,000 flags, one for each person killed in the 9/11 attacks, appeared on the Pepperdine University lawn this weekend. Created seven years ago by then-student Ryan Sawtelle, with the help of friends and fellow Young Republicans, the memorial draws thousands of visitors and has gained international renown.

Here's a nice piece from Malibu Patch about Sawtelle and his friends, published back in 2012. Sawtelle went on to found the White Heart Foundation, which rallies community support for veterans in need. The Ride to the Flags, one of the groups' annual events, is set for Sept. 14 this year.

Fair warning -- if you're planning to visit the flag display today, expect heavy traffic. As of this morning, PCH is still down to a single lane in each direction at Corral Canyon, where repairs of a failed power pole are still in progress.

*Update: PCH partially re-opened at about 3 p.m., according to Malibu Patch. Traffic still as hellish as you would imagine on a warm weekend afternoon.

(Photo shot at 5:45 p.m. Oy.)*

Expect gridlock if you're headed to the beach here today thanks to a power pole near Latigo Canyon Road that keeled over for no apparent reason. PCH has been closed in both directions since 8 a.m. and will stay that way for either four hours or all day, depending on who you're listening to.

From City News Service, via Westside Today:

Traffic in Malibu reached an absolute standstill today, as a power pole cracked and began to fall over on Pacific Coast Highway at Latigo Beach.

The pole simply failed, there was no crash or other apparent outside factor, said a sheriff's deputy at the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station. The road closure was ordered just after 8 a.m. today.

Firefighters said PCH was likely to remain closed all day. Westbound traffic was being turned around at John Tyler Drive, eastbound traffic was getting the same order at Latigo Canyon Road.

The closest detour around the four-mile closure was a mountainous 30-mile-loop via Malibu Canyon Road, Mulholland Highway, Sierra Creek Road and Kanan-Dume Road.

Detours involve mountain routes through the Santa Monicas, not exactly fast, but always thrilling.

For the intrepid driver, here's the alternate route:

Malibu Coast Animal Hospital -- wonderful vets and techs and a good sense of humor?

A certain tiny Lab dancer approves.

Pelican in the Paradise Cove sunrise on Sept. 6 2013.

Yeah, this guy, safely sequestered behind closed doors.

And by 'thing', I mean a primal need to pace and growl and act as though he'd leap off the deck to chase (or join) his furry canid cousins.

Yes, more coyote photos. I think it's going to be a theme...

Most evenings, right about sunset, a coyote (or two or three) does some reconnaissance in the conservancy land behind the cottage: