Richard Rathe's Reflections

Where I've been and what I've learned along the way…

Welcome!

Remain calm, be kind, and carry on regardless!

id photo 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…

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Food for Thought

When you're through changing, you're through.
Bruce Barton

Featured Photo

Photo by Richard Rathe Birds, Florida, Sweetwater_Wetlands, Palm_Warbler

Birds, Florida, Sweetwater_Wetlands, Palm_Warbler

Social Media (Mastodon)

@zutalorz🤕 (@zutalorz@haunted.computer)

Jul 16, 2026

See original post on mastodon.

"Those little white flowers you see here are known as the Arctic mountain heather, and they are highly toxic to this little pika. Collared pika create what we call haypiles under the rocks that will serve as food for the 9 months of winter they endure beneath the snow. That’s 9 months of dead rotting plants for fungi, bacteria, and other parasites to completely destroy. That is, unless the pika layers toxic species like this arctic heather through the haypile. This particular species of flower releases its toxic brew of phenolic compounds into the the pika's cache of food as it begins to break down. Those very same toxins, it turns out, are a natural food preservative that kills the very fungi and bacteria that would otherwise ruin an entire winter’s worth of food for the pika. And amazingly, by the time the pika makes it down to these layers, those toxins are completely harmless to the little mammal. None of this is by accident. Researchers have documented that not only are pika meticulous at how they layer toxic plants into their haypiles, they use different species, with differing levels of toxicity, at specific levels through the cache to ensure that their food is not only well preserved but also timed to be edible for themselves as they work their way through it. This is the most sophisticated pharmacological knowledge and behavior ever documented outside of humans." photo and text by jaredlloydphoto #Photographie #Photography #Fotografie #Nature #Wildlife #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography

Everglades Kayak Trip 2026 (Solo)

Birds Camping Everglades Galleries Nature Travel 2026

Sunset Behind Turtle Key

This was my 30th trip to the Everglades—different from all the others in several respects. First I was trying out new equipment (a sit-inside folding kayak). Second, I planned to just camp on a desert island, read, and take it easy. Third, I left from the Smallwood Store on Chokoloskee Island because the actual Ranger Station was closed for long-awaited hurricane repairs. I was also alone as there were no takers to join me this year.

Panoramic iPhone Photography

Galleries Panoramas Photography Travel 2008

Termessos Theater, Turkey

About a year ago I upgraded the iOS on my iPhone 4s. A few days later I discovered a new option in the Camera App—Panorama Mode! Over the next few months I slowly realized that this was a serious photographic tool. Now I take it along as an important part of my photographic gear. It appears to work like a slit camera, but instead of moving the film, you must move the camera. This has interesting ramifications if some or all of your subject is moving (see my Treatise on Panopainting).

Bicentennial Thoughts on the Semiquincentennial

Commentary History 2026

Preparing to Fly the Flag (July 4, 1976) [source: DC Public Library]

I put out my American Flag today. I've decided to 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).

Road Trip West 10, Arches National Park

Birds Flowers Galleries History Panoramas Road_Trip_2026 Travel 2026

Brothers at the Partition Arch

We entered Arches National Park about 8am the next day. This was a great time for photographing the rock formations in the southern part of the park (near the entrance). Our plan was to take a leisurely drive north—exploring along the way—until we reached the Devil's Garden area. This is where the majority of the notable arches are. You might also like to view photos from My November 2024 Trip.

Oru Coast XT Folding Kayak (Review)

Boats Camping Reviews Technology 2025

Oru Coast XT Kayak on the Mississippi

Oru kayaks started out small. The first one I saw in a sporting goods store several years ago looked like a toy. Since then they have developed several larger, more serious designs. Here is a summary of my experience with the Coast XT, their longest and most ambitious model—a 16ft sea kayak that weighs in at 32 pounds.

The March of Folly

Books History Reviews
Barbara Tuchman (1984)

Book Cover 1984

With America “at war” [2006 & 2026] on several fronts, I was stimulated to recall this wonderful and important book by the eminent historian Barbara Tuchman. The first line says it all…

Chaco Canyon 2023

Galleries Hdr History Panoramas Travel Video 2023

Chaco Canyon Entrance

After braving the nearly washed out road from the north I arrived around 9am. I had to walk my Prius diagonally over piles of gravel and exposed rock faces. This was my third attempt over twenty years to visit this important site. (The first two failed because the roads were completely washed out!)

Everglades Talk — Where the Birds Are!

Everglades Galleries Travel Video 2025

Everglades Talk Banner

My Presentation to the Sante Fe Audubon Society on Jan 14 2025, including photos and personal stories from 28 wilderness trips over 25 years! I've canoed, kayaked, and sailed most of the navigable areas. In the talk I briefly cover the geology, hydrology, flora, fauna, and history of this unique national treasure.

Everglades Trip 2011 (Sail Canoe)

Birds Camping Everglades Galleries Hdr Travel 2011

Everglades

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.

ShortNote Clinical Shorthand

Medicine Medinfo 2016

Short Note Output

I have worked with home-grown and commercial Electronic Medical Records for over thirty years. The use of dot commands (a period followed by a trigger phrase) is about as old as personal computing. (I first encountered dot commands in the WordStar word processing program during the 1980s!) These commands generally fall into three categories:

Hammock Camping Guide

Camping Hammocks How_To Reviews 2025

Hammock Bliss

There are various configurations of camping hammocks 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.

Guttenberg 2025

Birds Flowers Galleries Iowa Travel 2025

First Night Moonrise

This year I came and went three times due to other trips and obligations. Starting in May to open up the place. Then back in late July for the RAGBRAI and family reunion. Then back after trips to Brimson and the BWCA in September.

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul Turkey

Art Galleries History Photography Travel Turkey_2016 2016

Hagia Sophia (Minarets Added after Constantinople Fell in 1453)

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.

Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks

Birds Nature 2026

Black-Bellied Whistling Duck

Consider the Black-Bellied Whistling Duck! (One of the better bird names IMO.) Larger than average ducks, longer neck, pink bill & feet, used to be called tree ducks. I see these very early in the morning and occasionally a pair on a nearby dock. Only learned recently that they are mostly active at night, which is why I wasn't aware they were around.

Everglades Trip 2005

Camping Everglades Galleries Travel 2005

Starting Out on Coot Bay Pond

After driving down from Naples, we reached the put in at Coot Bay Pond around 11am. We were on the trail by 11:45. There was a ten mile per hour breeze out of the north, so we had a headwind most of the day. We headed directly into Whitewater Bay for the first few hours before turning up the side bay leading to Roberts River.

Everglades Trip 2000

Camping Everglades Galleries Travel 2000

Everglades

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.

Flashlight Thoughts

Camping Commentary How_To Reviews Technology 2020

There when you need it! (source:pinterest)

I'm not too fond of headlamps for a few reasons… they are generally too bright when you are working close, shine in people's faces when you look up, and kill your night vision. And what about your hat?!

Okefenokee Canoe Trip 2021

Camping Galleries Hammocks Okefenokee Travel Video 2021

Starting Out at Kingfisher Landing

I last traveled to the Okefenokee in 2004, and I had been hoping to return sooner. My return was delayed in part by a multi-year drought and Major Fires in 2011. This year the water was high thanks to record rainfall in the late summer.

The Maze 2019

Camping Canyonlands Galleries Hdr Panoramas Travel 2019

Glen, Richard, Jeff, Bren, Bill, Rick

It would be hard to top our 4WD/bike trip to the White Rim in Canyonlands last year, but entering the isolated subunit called The Maze was a strong contender! This immense National Park is divided into three major areas that are completely isolated from each other. The Maze lies mostly on the western side of the Green River with the southern-most Dollhouse area just below the confluence with the Colorado. As we did last year, we stopped at Fisher Towers and Moab along the way (see photo gallery below).

Everglades Trip 2006

Camping Everglades Galleries Travel 2006

Everglades

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.

Lake Superior Trail 2015 (Gallery)

Apostle_Islands Birds Galleries Hdr Panoramas Travel 2015

Lakeshore Cliffs

This trail is part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. It overlooks the famous Lake Superior Sea Caves. Below is a gallery of my best photographs from hiking this trail in 2015.

There is No ‘I’ in AI

Commentary Technology 2026

Tales from the Claude Crypt (from original post, uncredited)

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)

W.A. Rohlf ~1910

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.

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