Drove by this one a few times before I was sure it said what I thought it said.

Horizon scrubbed clean?

Check.

Ocean denim blue?

Check.

Waves fraying?

Check and check.

And way, way across the water, a hint of dtla.

Jan. 13, 2006

The (old) Old Place in Cornell, where it was either steak or clams for dinner, unless you went there on Sunday, in which case it was beef stew. (A little bit different now.)

Still and gray with the slightest stain of sunrise, and a high tide tugging some kayaks from shore.

The moon rose last night just as the sun set, red in the west, sinking, pale light ascendant in the east.

Can't decide which moon shot I prefer -- the structure and symmetry of the tree, or the spooky Tim Burton close-up in the eucalyptus branches.

The plan was to start the week with a sunrise but lately the sunsets here have been more intriguing. And then the coyote came by this morning, so familiar to the dogs at this point that the ten seconds they spent barking seemed more like fulfilling a contractual obligation than any real menace.

(Of course when it comes to this guy:

...the concept of menace is relative.)

ANYway, here's the coyote in the hills behind the house, late enough that it was light enough to get a decent shot.

Blowing bubbles in the chaparral -- it just doesn't get old.

On PCH a few weeks back.

For once the sensor in the little point-and-shoot didn't go nuts in the sunset light and caught last night's colors exactly (well, almost) as they appeared.

Throwback Thursday: Fire in Malibu, Oct. 21, 2007

The canyon wind rose up last night and with it, the temperature. At midnight, 68 degrees. At 7 am, 74. Some sobering news from NOAA:

The September average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62°F (0.90°C) above the 20th century average. This was the highest September temperature on record, surpassing the previous record set last year by +0.12°F (+0.19°C).

September's high temperature was also the greatest rise above average for any month in the 136-year historical record, surpassing the previous record set in both February and March this year by 0.02°F (0.01°C).

Cooler tomorrow the weather cast says, and then a warm weekend. We live in interesting times. Click the NOAA link above and you'll see.

On one of my favorite roads in (southern) Los Angeles County, where today it finally feels like fall.

After dark last night, for a moment, anyway, a welcome chill. Then clouds eased in, thick and warm and so this morning, pearl and grey.

The tiny Labrador wants you to know that every scofflaw instant on the green, green grass (we really didn't see the sign until we left) was worth the risk.

Coastal fog this morning, a welcome spin on the cooler curve of the color wheel.

Throwback Thursday: Jake and baby Maisie's first morning together; Feb. 22 2006.

I don't recall shooting this little video and wish there had been sound. What I do remember is how the sad little puppy rescued from that weird dog collector lady fell madly in love with Jake. And he fell just as hard.

So hot the other night, coyotes absent, birds stilled, the dogs in a panting pile. And then this guy showed up, rising and looping and skimming the sky, lifting us from our heat-stunned torpor.

The heat, this crazy heat. While television weathercasts are in a lather over daily high temps, it's the spike in overnight lows that's disquieting. Here at the coast, where the ocean is freakishly warm, the nights have stayed in the high 70s and even the low 80s. At dusk yesterday a warm wind blew through and the night, instead of cooling, grew a few degrees warmer. If you've read "The Dog Stars" by Peter Heller, it's all a bit too close for comfort.

ANYway, today's sunrise. A few minutes later, the temperature here actually dropped a few degrees. And tomorrow, having now dumped my bit of apocalyptic doom and gloom, we'll return to our regularly scheduled (deer! Walter! a parasailer at sunset!) Here in Malibu programming.

Can you have a skyline in the country? If yes, then here above Zuma last night it was foothills and sage, treetops and the last light of sunset doing the heavy lifting.

A drift of mist this morning in the sycamores.

Someone cast an early vote on Measure W, the proposal to build out a vacant 5.8-acre parcel in town with a Whole Foods Market and assorted other retail, parking and public space.

The first commercial project to go to a vote under the slow-growth auspices of Measure R, which is facing a legal challenge, the Whole Foods project hits the ballot on Nov. 3.

Let's look at water:

Better now.

Throwback Thursday: Rainy day on Jan. 21, 2010.

Sadly, that hillside is now gone, a bloated mega-mansion in its place.

When you see pelicans fishing these days, chances are you'll also see some Heermann's gulls. Small and nimble, the gull stalks a pelican in hopes that, in that unguarded instant when the pelican lobs its catch from its pouch to its gullet, the gull can dart in and steal it.

As a devoted member of Team Pelican, I am happy to report that this morning, the pelicans won. They do this thing where, after bobbing to the surface with their meal, they keep their heads dropped, bills dipped down in the water. The instant the tide or the surf or a split second of inattention moves the gull out of range, whoosh!, the pelican does a successful toss-and-swallow.

Pelican dives, gulls stalk.

The 'dip your bill' maneuver.

Pelican 1, gull 0.

Go pelicans!

Coyote again, listening for gophers at the fence line.

The post-rain coast:

A post-rain cactus flower--

...with a spidery stamen.

And a tiny Labrador enjoying a sunbath.

Woke at 4 am to rain, a sound so rare it lifts you from the deepest sleep. This morning, the Point Dume headlands, where crowds had yet to arrive.

The view to the south:

Out to sea:

To the north:

And above, where pelicans cruised the current.

I'm happy to report that Walt and Maisie, two very goooood K9s, had their heads out the other window when this went by.

My favorite thing about Throwback Thursday is the cultural cover it provides for posting photos of Maisie with her (and my) beloved Jake.

Aug. 10 2008 on the road formerly known as De Butts Terrace.

An autumnal antidote to the Christmas decorations (the music isn't far behind) now showing up somewhere near you.