Where I've been and what I've learned along the way…
Welcome!
Remain calm, be kind, and carry on regardless!
You've reached the online journal of Richard Rathe — online since 2004! In this iteration I'm trying a few new ideas: minimal markup, working with mostly plain text, and moving beyond the timeline. I call it BLIS (BLog It Simple). Find me online…
Purple martin in flight yesterday along the trail at the Waterworks Prairie Park in Iowa City, Iowa.
#birds #birding #BirdPhotography #wildlife #WildlifePhotography #nature #NaturePhotography #photography #AltText
Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
California Galleries Plants Travel
2025
We recently visited the Bristlecone Pines within Inyo National Forest in the White Mountains of Eastern California. While there we took a five hour hike on the Methuselah Trail amongst some of the oldest trees in the world!
Dryad's Saddle Mushroom
Galleries Nature Plants
2026
While walking in the woods we came upon this huge pore fungus called Dryad's Saddle described as …an annual mushroom commonly found attached to dead logs and stumps or on living hardwood trees at one point with a thick stem. …On the underside one can see the pores that are characteristic of the genus; they are made up of tubes packed together closely. The mushroom's smell resembles that of watermelon rind.[1]
The March of Folly — Louis XIV vs Trump
Books Commentary History
2026
I've reworked these extended quotations from The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman (1986) for today's wannabe KingTrump. Tuchman's words speak to greater truths. My words are my own and speak for more immediate truths in desperate times.
Road Trip West 3, Petrified Forest
Birds Flowers Galleries History Road_Trip_2026 Travel
2026
The next day I had a three hour drive to my next destination—Petrified Forest National Park. The southern entrance is less used than the north but two of he major hiking trails are there: Crystal Forest & Blue Mesa. Unfortunately there is no trail to Newspaper Rock—a major Petroglyph site. It was cold and windy, but apparently I came at a good time to see the many desert flowers in bloom. 🙂
Bicentennial Thoughts on the Semiquincentennial
Books Commentary History Music
2026
I put out my American Flag today. 🇺🇸 I only fly the flag on special days and this is one of them. Thinking about what makes this day special is what gives the act meaning. One cannot be patriotic every day, but that's not required. We need days like this to think hard about history (those actions and actors who mattered), the present (our current situation and how it differs from what it should be), and the future (the history we might make during the time remaining to us).
Bridge Hammock (Review)
Camping Hammocks Reviews
2026
I recently bought a Ridgerunner Hammock from Warbonnet Outdoors. These are my first impressions. I'd been aware of this type of hammock for a few years and I was curious about them. Online descriptions and 2D photos don't really help much. This design makes much more sense when you actually lie in one.
Duluth Aerial Ferry Bridge (1905)
Books History Technology
Thomas F. McGilvray (1905)
The northern city of DuluthMinnesota is famous for its Lift Bridge connecting the Canal Park area with the long sandy beach of Minnesota Point. However, the current bridge was not the first. The original structure was a more exotic Ferry Bridge. There are only a few examples left in the world. I found these images in a digitised book from that time.
Trump v Moby-Dick
Commentary Galleries History
2017
I’ve become a real fan of @MobyDickatSea, a bot-based feed of random quotes from the book. It’s amazing how well some of these fragments stand up as individual thoughts!
Through the Brazilian Wilderness (1914)
Bookhouse Books History Reviews
Theodore Roosevelt (1914)
This book records an expedition lead by Teddy Roosevelt in 1913-14 after he was president! It has the most amazing cover… embossed, leather (I assume) with a Golden Anteater?!
Cedar Key & Hall Creek 2021
Birds Camping Galleries History Travel
2021
I went for a quick solo kayak trip to Hall Creek near Cedar Key (putting in at the #4 Bridge off of Highway 24). I last visited this area in 2012 with a friend. The first mile or so is very shallow and I made a few mistakes on my way to Live Oak Key, where there is a narrow channel through the oyster beds. Surprisingly the old oak tree on the point is still alive! [compare with 2012]
Action Journaling (Tasks & Projects)
Projects
2022
AJ focuses on Action Items defined as discrete activities that can be performed, decided, or otherwise resolved (aka a todo list). This is the lowest level of organization—a shopping list for example. The higher level Task is to go shopping. The shopping list is an aid to complete this task. If you are planning a party with food and guests you must complete several tasks to ensure a successful event. Let's call this top level outcome a Project. As an outline it might appear something like this:
This is a quick-and-dirty gallery of my Everglades photographs. Only a placeholder for now while I work on converting my older sites. See my Everglades Wilderness Guide for more trips, maps, & photographs.
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul Turkey
Art Galleries History Photography Travel Turkey_2016
2016
Hagia Sophia is one of the most historic buildings in the world! It is a strange palimpsest of Islam superimposed on top of Orthodox Christianity. Finished around 537 CE in Constantinople (now Istanbul), it was the largest building in the world for a thousand years. When we visited it was a secular museum and world heritage site. In 2020 a theocratic government turned it back into a functioning mosque. I do not know if the Christian art and iconography has been covered or possibly removed since then.
Sweetwater Wetlands 2026
Birds Galleries Nature
2026
Photos from our recent visit to Sweetwater Wetlands Park. Not sure I've been there in January before. There were the usual denizens and one surprise (Roseate Spoonbills). It was a bright shiny day and it warmed up quickly.
Cellon Oak (Florida Champion Tree)
Hdr Nature Photography Plants
2012
The Cellon Oak Park is located three miles south of La Crosse off highway 121 in rural Alachua County. For years I’ve driven the highways nearby and never knew this gem was there. The tree is magnificent in person. Well worth a trip!
BWCA Canoe Trip 2022
Bwca Galleries Travel Video
2025
This was a return to a familiar area with lots of options. Gaskin and Winchell are particularly nice lakes accessible from the Gunflint Trail. This area has also been burned by forest fires more than once in recent times.
Electronic [Medical, Patient, Health] Records (2006)
Commentary Medicine Medinfo
2006
…the biggest complaint — with potentially dangerous implications — involved the automatic alerts that flashed on the screen every time a doctor made an out-of-the-ordinary request. Designed to catch errors before they occur, the alerts became an unending series of questions, reminders and requests on fairly basic decisions.
Red Eft Newts
Critters Nature
2023
I was recently walking through a dense hemlock forest in upstate New York where I came across some chewed-up mushrooms and several little orange critters crawling around them. I instantly thought a) salamanders? and b) they must be eating the mushrooms. Turns out I was right on the first point and only half-right on the second.
Everglades Kayak Trip 2023
Everglades Galleries Hammocks Travel Video
2023
This year we returned to the northern part of the park. The original plan had been a grand tour loop with two beach sites and two chickees. However, the forecast was calling for high winds on the last two days where we would be exposed out on the Gulf of Mexico. On the drive down I called and amended our permit to camp at Lopez River on the last night.
Electric Vehicles (1916)
Bookhouse Books History Reviews Technology
1916
I rescued this thick, encyclopedic volume from the trash. (Notice the page numbers are up to the 2800s!) These pages are from the chapter on Electric Vehicles. This illustration is so similar to a modern garage I was intrigued to consider what opportunities had been missed as we progressed to our petro-industry fueled present?
Hammock Camping Guide
Camping Hammocks How_To Reviews
2025
There are various configurations of campinghammocks that I'll outline below. Most are gathered with single tie-on points at each end. Some have integrated bug nets. Complete packages come with both nets & rainflies. After a brief survey of the different types, I go on to propose my criteria for the Ideal Hammock.
There is No ‘I’ in AI
Commentary Technology
2026
My Critique of: Your Voice, Your Choice — A Guest Post by Claude Sonnet 4.5
The ELIZA Effect is a tendency to project human traits—such as experience, semantic comprehension or empathy—onto rudimentary computer programs having a textual interface.
Good Morning Doctor!
Books History Medicine
W.A. Rohlf (1938)
This little book was conceived neither as a medical history nor as a technical discussion of surgery. It is instead a story of people, of friends with whom I have shared joy and sorrow, in short, bits of the day-to-day drama which is the life of a country doctor. Many of the incidents are trivial, in one sense of the word, yet each has had in it something which appealed to me enough to make me remember it as a highlight in my forty-five years as a country doctor.