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
Do something wonderful, people may imitate it.
Albert Schweitzer
Featured Photo
Panorama, Panopainting, Driftwood, Florida
Social Media (Mastodon)
TimemiT (@_timemit_@mastodon.scot)
Nov 16, 2025
#silentsunday
The Wave & Coyote Buttes North
Galleries Photography Southwest_2024 Travel Video
2024
The entrance to The Wave is a long curved corridor of twisted stone stripes with no real floor. The stripes vary in both color and indentation. It’s a remarkable visual/tactile surface! The actual Wave is tulip-shaped, looking a bit like a skateboard park designed by Dr. Seuss. There was an ephemeral pool at the lowest point.
Cedar Key & Hall Creek 2021
Birds Camping Galleries History Travel
2012
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]
RFK jr's Food (Non) Pyramid as Propaganda
Commentary
2026
The history of the food pyramid is complicated (see my analysis from 2004). There hasn't been an official one for maybe twenty years. I grew up with it and I think it is a sound idea, but very political with respect to what foods go where. It may be a coincidence, but anyone who is familiar with the old pyramid will recognize this one as an inverted echo. There are many other ways to lay out these ideas graphically, the choice of an inverted triangle is not subtle. I think it's propaganda for the following reasons:
Natural Selection in the Nest!
Birds Nature
2018
Yesterday we kayaked over to the EgretRookery on Little Lake Santa Fe. There were at least ten great egrets sitting on nests and one nest had a raucous bunch of chicks (3 or 4). Then we noticed there was a much smaller chick on the edge and its siblings were attacking it! After a minute or two we watched the little guy fall sixty feet into the water…
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.
Garden of the Gods (Illinois)
Birds Galleries Hdr Travel Video
2017
I had the opportunity to travel through Southern Illinois on my way back from Iowa in June. I large part of this hilly country is contained within the Shawnee National Forest There are miles of trails, several wilderness areas, and many points of interest. I stopped for the night at The Garden of the Gods (not to be confused with the area in Colorado by the same name!).
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.
Electronic [Medical, Patient, Health] Records (2006)
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.
Duluth Panoramic Postcards (1914)
Bookhouse History Panoramas
L. P. Gallagher (1914)
I came across these rolled-up postcards (yes, they have a place for a stamp and address on the back!) in an old collection of regular postcards that had nothing to do with Duluth or Minnesota. After some research by friends and family we came up with approximate dates. Based on the early automobiles and horse-carts we dated the downtown view before 1920 (Full-Res Image).
KIST to eBook Conversion Notes
Projects
2024
There is one caveat when creating the final zip archive. The mimetype file must be uncompressed and positioned first in the archive. This is so reader and other software can confirm the format (application/epub+zip).
Spreader Pole Hammock (Review)
Camping Hammocks Reviews
2023
I became aware of Hammock Camping back in 2016. Luckily my first hammock was reasonably well designed and built. Seven years later that hammock has taken me many places and taught me a lot! Unfortunately it is showing some wear and I've been looking for a possible replacement.
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.)
Vermilion Cliffs
Galleries History Panoramas Southwest_2024 Travel
2024
We made several day trips to Lee's Ferry Utah while waiting for our other adventures (Paria Canyon, Coyote Buttes & The Wave) to start.
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.
Contested Election 1876 — Tilden vs Hayes
Commentary History
1876
There are many interesting parallels between the 1876 and 2016 presidential elections. Both had enormous impact on their times and what came after. Both had a great deal to do with race. Both where marred by chicanery and a split between the popular and electoral vote.
Spacejunk Falling Across the Sky
Nature Video
2025
I was out walking at dawn today and saw this slow motion display. I could not tell if it was a plane with lights shining forward or something else. It turns out to be rocket or satellite debris falling back to Earth (aka Spacejunk).
BWCA Canoe Trip 2018
Bwca Camping Galleries Travel
2018
On this trip we planned to visit part of the central BWCA that had been ravaged by the 2011Pagami Fire. Our goal was to reach Malberg Lake and take day trips from there. We entered at Kawishiwi Lake and proceeded down a small river maintained by a huge beaver dam.
The Brimson Forest Fire
History
2025
In the late 1970s two friends and I invested in a three room cabin on thirty acres embedded in Superior National Forest in Northern Minnesota. That cabin and other buildings are no more after the Camp House Roadforest fire swept through.
May Day Anti-Trump Protest
Commentary
2025
May 1, 2025
Everglades Kayak Trip 2022
Everglades Galleries Hammocks Travel Video
2022
The plan for this year was a clockwise tour around Whitewater Bay, with options to go out to the Gulf of Mexico and explore the Watson River. My cousin David Rathe and nephew Theron Pray decided to join me.
QuickHPI (History of Present Illness)
Medicine Medinfo
2025
QuickHPI is a tool for recording the History of Present Illness in a concise, easy to read format. Simply fill out the form, click a button and your note is ready. Make changes and update it as many times as necessary. When you are satisfied with your work, paste the text into your favorite EMR, database, or word processor. Enjoy! RR
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 
