Grinding Coffee with a Hatchet

Tanya and I spent the first half of the week camping at Larrabee State Park up near Bellingham, Washington. We selected the site to, hopefully, to avoid rain (and did so, at least until our last morning when packing up). Our original choice was Kalaloch, on the coast, but with our wet summer, that seemed like a bad choice.

I’ve found, when camping, that we typically forget something. This case was no different – I forgot my glasses and had to survive with only contact lenses – not too bad; but we also forgot towels and went without a shower for three days – bad. What was different about this trip is not what we forgot, but what we brought – whole bean coffee instead of ground coffee. (Actually we did have ground decaf available, which is all I drink, but  Tanya needs her caffeine.)

Camping can also be about improvisation – making due with what you have. Tanya made a classic example of this. How does one grind coffee without a coffee grinder? With a hatchet of course! Put some beans in a ziplock bag and pound away with the blunt end of a hatchet. Works every time! Tanya said it was some the best coffee she’s ever had.

Photography is often about improvisation as well. I went on this trip hoping to some good shots looking out toward the San Juan Islands. Larrabee State Park is along Chuckanut Drive, which is blessed with stunning views of the San Juans. However, the conditions did not cooperate. We could see the islands, but the view was a bit hazy, and looked very poor photographically in afternoon light. So I got up early to do a morning shot and was defeated by fog and low clouds covering the view. Now fog can offer its own special look, but not in this case. The view over the water toward the islands was essentially a gray wall. And while I did get some sunset shots, the sunset was toward the northwest, away from the main body of  the San Juans. And frankly, the sunsets were nice to watch, but not all that fantastic photographically.

So I had to make do with other subjects. The coastline at this spot is made up of Chuckanut sandstone, which makes a rocky shoreline with interesting boulders. The unusual erosion patterns in the boulders made a good photographic subject. We also visited a friend in Bellingham; which provided me with an opportunity to photograph the historic district there, including some graffiti which made interesting abstracts.

I didn’t get the shot I had hoped for, but I was able to improvise and find some good subjects otherwise. You know the old saying, about lemons and lemonade. Or I guess you could change it to say “if life give you a hatchet, make coffee.”