Promoting the commonality of coffee production with the production of wine

This is a message about jumping to conclusion embedded in a story about coffee.

[Cindy and Margaret]

Today's excursion was to another coffee farm just a few miles away from Greenwell farm. Kona Joe Coffee takes a different approach. Greenwell Farm is larger and processes not only their own coffee but coffee for smaller producers as well. Kona Joe Coffee is perhaps a better example of agritourism positioning itself as more exclusive. It has a very beautiful location high over the ocean with manicured grounds and attractive buildings. We have been here long enough now that the coffee crop is further along and cherries are clearly present on the plants.

[not coffee]

Coffee Joe compares itself to a fine winery. I know a lot more about coffee than I do wine and my impressions of the wine trade tend towards stereotypes of fine wine snobs smelling and tasting things in their drink that justify very high prices. I am unable to smell and taste these things myself so I tend to attribute these comments to a type of snobbery focused on sharing the price of their favorite wines to impress each other. The cost of the special reserve coffees from Kona Joe fell in line with this stereotype. I did not purchase a large cup for $15.  I had a medium 12 oz. of generic Kona for $4. I also did not pay $17 for a tour. The tour at Greenwell Farms was great and led by an interesting and knowledgeable host and was free.

Eventually, I read enough of the placards (rather than paying for a tour) that made clear that the association with wine was different than I had assumed. Kona Joe Farm raises its coffee using trellises similar to those used at wineries. It is argued that coffee reared on a trellis exposes the individual branches of the coffee plant to air and sun in a way that assures greater consistency. Ok - the coffee plants are supported by wires and pruned in a somewhat different shape. That is a difference from the way coffee is grown at the other coffee farms I have visited. I can see that the exposure would be more consistent if the branches were more separated. What this does to taste is not obvious, but it makes sense that consistency would be increased.

I did learn something new on this visit. I assume you are familiar with the expression "cup of Joe". Why is a cup of coffee called a cup of Joe? Evidently, one time Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels, banned the consumption of alcoholic beverages by the officers on Navy vessels and provided coffee as an alternative. Coffee became described as a cup of Joe. There - your new knowledge for the day.

Streaks

I am purposely not posting today. I have been reading about behavioral mechanisms that social media companies use to increase the time spent on social media. Promoting “streaks” is one of them. I have been posting for quite a few days in a row now and this could be considered a streak. So, to prevent myself and you from being manipulated by any sense of a commitment to a streak, there will be no Travel Blog post today.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is located on the island of Hawaii near the town of Volcano (really). You probably know that there was a recent eruption here. The Kilauea volcano is now inactive with no lava flowing. The employees in the visitor's center said tourist companies promise visitors they will see lava. This is technically true as much of the island is covered by lava, but it is not in a molten state.

We lucked into a talkative fellow who lived in Volcano and explained a great deal to us as we walked along. He happened to be visiting the park and said that this was the first time his wife had been in the park since the eruption. I wish I had asked his name. Maybe he did introduce himself and I don't remember. I guess I involve myself in conversations without using names.

He said that he and his wife had frequently walked their dogs on the trail we were walking and said that the land beside the trail that was still spewing steam had been level with the trail before the eruption.

Here is a photo of the new caldera within the older caldera produced by the recent eruption. It is difficult to get close enough or high enough for a good photo. Many of the roads in the park are closed. I think this is because of damage to the roads preventing passage rather than danger from the volcano. 

We got talking about the damage caused by floods which we have experienced and the eruption and earthquakes associated with the volcano he had experienced. Unless you are located near the river, you can rebuild after a flood. There is no rebuilding when the lava pushes over your land. He started talking about a relative who great deal on a house because she was willing to purchase a home in a stage 4 lava zone. This reminded me of the different insurance rates for homes in different flood zones - 100 year, 500 year. It turns out that the town of Volcano was not impacted by lava, but many homes were damaged by the earthquakes. Our new friend explained that homes that sat on concrete slabs buckled and cracked. He said his home was positioned on wood blocks that gave in an earthquake resulting in no major damage. 

He had one more story - the legend of the Ohia tree. Pele, the volcano goddess was enthralled with a handsome warrior, Ohia. The warrior rejected Pele to be true to his love, Lehua. In anger, Pele turned Ohia into an ugly tree. Other gods more sympathetic to Ohia and upset with Pele then turned Lehua into a beautiful flower that appears on the Ohia tree. Together forever. I think I have this right. Anyway, I did photograph the flower.

Loco Moco

Hawaii has several unusual foods that could have become popular anywhere, but seem mostly to have caught on only here. First, there is that weird use of Spam. This stuff comes from Minnesota. I guess it became a staple during WWII and stills shows up here in sushi, omelets, and spam fried rice.

Loco moco is another example of “it could have happened anywhere”, but it happened here. The Loco moco is a bed of rice, topped with a hamburger and egg, and embellished with brown gravy. No pineapple, lilikoi, poi, coconut, or even avocado. Wikipedia has an account of how the logo moco came to be. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loco_moco

The waitress asked me how I wanted the hamburger. I said medium. She asked about the egg. I said scrambled. She looked at me a little bemused. I don’t like runny yolks, but I learned from Wikipedia that you are to mix the yolk with the rice. Maybe for breakfast. This was lunch.

Postcards for the future

My wife and I have different tech heroes.  She is a fan of Doug Engelbart. I have always admired Bill Atkinson. Mr Atkinson worked for Apple as a graphics person. He wrote MacPaint and later one of the most influential computer programs of all time - HyperCard. A triangulation interview with Mr. Atkinson provides some insight into his creativity and productivity while at Apple.

I spent possibly more than a thousand hours creating stuff in HyperCard.  At one time, I had 200 disks with my first study skills system available to students in the UND library. HyperCard was the perfect example of a low floor and high ceiling digital creativity app. I wish Apple would not have decommissioned it. This was before the days of coding for all and computational thinking, but it would be the perfect tool for developing these competencies.

Atkinson continues to do creative, visually-oriented things to this day. His recent work focuses on digital printing and postcards. His interest in postcards is based in his concern that our focus on digital imagery leaves behind little in the way of physical artifacts. What will be available to the next generation to provide a record of previous generations? Will digital imagery be passed on and examined?

Atkinson's partial solution is to encourage the continued use of postcards and he has attempted to offer a service that allows anyone to send high quality postcards using personal imagery. These are large in size and laminated for increased longevity and quality. We have used his application for the iPad during our trips and the quality is as advertised. There are now similar apps. I can't say I have tried them because I like Atkinson's message and his commitment to this idea.

"This is a labor of love. I want to see the postcard rescued. It's going to die, if we don't do something," he said. "I am now a digital postal worker -- I shepherd along these little packets of love. Nobody sends hate mail on a postcard. I want it to be beautiful, not like junk mail." [comment from Atkinson]