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. Some refer to this as a Digital Garden. I call it BLIS (BLog It Simple). Find me online…
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Food for Thought
If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
Mark Twain
Featured Photo
HDR, Fisher_towers, Utah
Social Media (Mastodon)
Jerome G (@Jgbird@mas.to)
Jan 12, 2026
Hummingbird photography is mostly a matter of patience. It’s nice when other birds drop in to explore. Like this Bewick’s wren. You can see a piece of spiderweb on its face.
Panhandle Pitcher Plant Expedition
Galleries Nature Photography Plants Travel
2020
The last time I went hunting for Pitcher Plants was 2017. This year I went about two weeks earlier and learned more about their distribution and lifecycles. I visited six sites in all, moving from Florida into Alabama. I saw mostly pitcher plant flowers as I moved west, apparently the flowers emerge days to weeks before the funnel-shaped leaves.
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.
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.
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]
Baking Good Bread On Demand
Books How_To Projects Reviews
2026
I've been a novice bread baker over the years, specifically breads leavened with yeast. I've made bagels and pizza crusts from scratch. I have a pizza stone in my oven and a wooden peel for that purpose. My last big endeavor was using my bread machine to make no knead bread (based on the famous NY Times recipe) with some success. All of this pales by comparison with the Five Minute approach outlined in the book discussed here.
Okefenokee Canoe Trip 2024
Camping Galleries Hammocks History Okefenokee Travel Video
2024
After doing the Green Trail to Bluff Lake and Round Top three years ago—this year we set out to retrace My First Trip in 2004 on the Red Trail and cut back via Floyds Island. My old friend Peter from Minnesota and youngest brother Bruce from Wisconsin joined me.
Arizona & Utah Rock Art
Galleries Photography Southwest_2024 Travel
2024
Photos of Petroglyphs (pecked into the rock) and Pictographs (painted onto the rock) from my most recent trip to Arizona and Utah. In some cases the panels are Palimpsests (newer inscriptions covering older, faded work).
Headlamp Thoughts
Camping Commentary Reviews Technology
2025
I hadn't used a headlamp in five years until this one caught my eye. Mostly because of configurability and the price ($9.99). (The price suddenly jumped to $24.99 after I bought mine. (Tariffs kicking in perhaps? It's Nov 2025)
Meteor 3p Tent (Review)
Camping Reviews Tents
2025
This nominal Three Person Tent from Sierra Designs is an asymmetrical, rectangular, wedge design. The asymmetry shifts the maximum interior height towards the head end where it is most useful. The sides (and doors) are nearly vertical thanks to a short spreader pole across the top. (Note that the tent reviewed here has been discontinued. The newer lite version costs twice as much 🙁 and has a bright orange fly.)
Everglades Kayak Trip 2024
Everglades Galleries Photography Travel Video
2024
This year we planned an aggressive trip—going down the Gulf Coast to access the narrow Wood River, revisit Camp Lonesome, stay at Willy Willy, and then loop back through the various inland bays on our return. Yet again we were thwarted by adverse winds.
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.
The Book of Birds (1849)
Birds Books History Reviews
George S. Appleton (1849)
Below is a limited sampling of historically significant pages that contain many surprising (and perhaps inaccurate) facts. Alas the Elegant Plates mentioned on the title page appear to be missing. Also missing is any mention of smaller birds such as wrens and warblers?!
Hypertext before the World Wide Web (1988)
History Projects
1988
When I was a resident in 1988 I wrote a bit of software called HYTEXT—a hypertext publishing system for MS-DOS computers. I knew nothing about networks at the time, but I did create a markup language that anticipated HTML in many ways. I recently came across a paper copy of my original documentation and thought it would be a good idea to reproduce a few pages here for posterity. The original program and documentation are on 5.25 inch floppy discs that I have no way to read. But I found my 22 year old documentation file online! So the circle is complete.
Hand Counting by Twelves
History Technology
2023
Ever wonder why we sometimes count things by the dozen, or why there are 60 minutes in an hour? We may have the ancient Babylonians (or earlier societies) to thank. They came up with this ingenious way to keep track of large numbers using only their two hands. There are variations on this theme, but it becomes pretty obvious if you have a hand with four fingers, with three bones each, and a thumb.
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).
Gulf Coast Carnivorous Plants
Galleries Nature Photography Plants Travel
2025
Spring is the time to hunt for carnivorous plants along the Gulf Coast of Florida and Alabama. The image below from 2020 shows three different, unrelated species that have all evolved the ability to trap and consume insects (Pitcher Plants, Butterworts, and Sundews).
Lake Powell 2020
Birds Galleries History Travel Video
2020
It had been ten years since I last visited Lake Powell. This year I went with my college friend Al and his partner Marian. Not having our own boat, we decided to rent a houseboat from the Bullfrog Marina. This turned out to be a great idea! With a few exceptions it was clean and well maintained (certain lights and the gas grill did not work).
Guttenberg 2025
Birds Flowers Galleries Iowa Travel
2025
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.
Clair Cameron Patterson, The Age of the Earth, & Environmental Lead
History Science
2010
I’m currently reading A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. About a third of the way in he introduces Clair Cameron Patterson who could be the model of the modern citizen/scientist.
ShortNote Clinical Shorthand
Medicine Medinfo
2016
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:
RFK Jr. & the Pasteurisation Controversy
Commentary History Medicine
Lawrence P. Garrod (1944)
Consider the so-called War on Raw Milk. I was amazed to discover in my Grandfather's scrapbook an article from 1944 debating the benefits of unpasteurised (raw) milk. These are echoed today by the public health nihilist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Deception, Obfuscation & Misdirection
Commentary Video
2016
Most are familiar with the concept of FUD—short for Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt. It summarizes a strategy often used in marketing and political propaganda. Its effects are pernicious, divisive and lead to exploitation. Examples abound. Fear is a strong motivator! To resist FUD one must understand how it is practiced using the principles of Deception, Obfuscation and Misdirection.
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.
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. Some refer to this as a 
