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

It is easier to stay out than get out.
Mark Twain

Featured Photo

Photo by Richard Rathe Birds, Florida, Swallow_Tailed_Kite

Birds, Florida, Swallow_Tailed_Kite

Social Media (Mastodon)

Tjeerd Royaards (@royaards@newsie.social)

Mar 13, 2026

See original post on mastodon.

What we get upset about. Cartoon for Dutch newspaper Trouw: https://www.trouw.nl/cartoons/tjeerd-royaards~bcb45712/ #GasPrices #oil #OilPrices #Iran

Picket Wire Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite

Critters History Travel Video 2019

Picket Wire Canyon

On my trip west this year I made sure I had time to visit this unique area. The Dinosaur Tracks are located within and along side the Purgatoire River within the COmanche National Grassland. It is located 35 miles south of La Junta, CO off the lightly maintained County Road 25 (upper left in the map above). The last few miles are on a primitive forest service road that ends at the Withers Canyon Trailhead and Campground (four sites with fire grates and a pit toilet).

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.

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).

Équinoxe by Jean-Michel Jarre

Music Reviews Video
Jean-Michel Jarre (1978)

Équinoxe Cover (1978)

IMO Équinoxe is one of the best original synthesized orchestral pieces out there. His preceding album Oxygène (produced and recorded at home!) is also good, similar in form—but Équinoxe remains my favorite.

Road Trip West 2, New Mexico

Flowers Galleries History Road_Trip_2026 Rock_Art Travel 2026

Desert Sunset

I established my campsite and went for a walk about an hour before sunset. It was a magical time to be out in the desert. Some of the rocks are volcanic in origin. I think that may be a cinder cone in the distance. There is a large abstract petroglyph on the right (click to enlarge).

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.

Treehugger Hitch (or Tree-Hook Knot)

Camping How_To Projects 2023

Treehugger Hitch v1

This is an idea I’ve been incubating for some time as a non-destructive “place anywhere” alternative to nails in trees or breaking living branches to hang things on. The knots required are very simple. Shown here is my first successful field test! It is tied using a short stick or similar object found locally.

Everglades Trip 2016

Camping Everglades Galleries Travel 2016

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.

May Day Anti-Trump Protest

Commentary Protest 2025

Protest Collage

May 1, 2025

Wet-Boot Adventure in Paria Canyon AZ

Camping Galleries Photography Southwest_2024 Travel 2024

Starting Out

The Paria River begins up by Bryce Canyon and flows south through Grand Staircase Escalante and the Vermilion Cliffs Arizona. Just before it empties into the Colorado River it flows thru a deep slot canyon and this is where we hiked.

Action Journaling (AJ)

Projects 2022

AJ on Paper

I developed this todo list format in 2016. It allows you to easily translate from paper to digital—and back again! This approach is compatible with other journaling formats such as KIST, Bullet Journaling and GTD.

Florida Manatees

Birds Critters Galleries Nature Video 2024

Friendly Manatee

A recent cold snap in the Tampa Bay area forced hundreds of manatees inland in search of warmer water. One ready source is the outflow from the TECO powerplant. To their credit, the company provides a dedicated viewing dock and surrounding wildlife preserve for birds and other critters.

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.

DIY Neck Strap Phone Holder

Commentary How_To Projects 2024

Neck Strap Phone Holder

I've used two-part holster cases for my phone over the past ten years. Now that phones are nominally waterproof I converted one into a neck strap phone holder for sailing, kayaking, canoeing, etc. This is a vast improvement over the bag cases which protect the device from water (not needed) but degrade the camera (not acceptable).

Everglades Trip 2015 (December)

Camping Everglades Galleries Travel 2015

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.

Electronic [Medical, Patient, Health] Records (2006)

Medicine Medinfo 2006

Impossible Task vs Redefine the Problem

…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.

Telegraph Codes (1914)

Bookhouse Books History Reviews Technology
C & B Johnson (1914)

Cover

Back in the days when long distance telephone calls were very expensive, families had various ring codes to let their loved ones know that they got there safe but avoided paying for an actual call. Ours was to let it ring twice and hang up (if I remember correctly).

Red & White Toadstools

Galleries Photography Southwest_2024 Travel 2024

Red Toadstools

Fantastic Rock Formations in Utah

China Trip (2012)

Galleries History Travel 2012

The Terra Cotta Army

A concise collection of photos from our 2012 trip to China. Including the Li River Valley, Terraced Mountain Rice Fields, Many Museums, Taoist Temples, Buddhist Temples, The Terra Cotta Army, Pandas, Shanghai, The Great Wall, and Beijing.

Rebuilding the Food Pyramid

History Medicine Science
Willett & Stampfer (2003)

Food Pyramid 1992

For more than ten years the U.S. Department of Agriculture has promoted its food pyramid as a guide to proper nutrition. The only problem is that it isn't very good advice! The authors of this January 2003 article in Scientific American provide much better guidance. But first a little history…

Aurora Borealis in Northern Minnesota

Galleries Nature Photography Science 2025

The Beginning!

I was visiting friends in northern Minnesota and had just finished a good meal. We were all fading fast so I said good night and headed for my hammock. As my eyes adjusted to the dark I noticed that the sky looked kind of strange—like city glow from a nearby town. Then, on the edge of the glow, I saw the tell-tale green curtains of the Northern Lights!

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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