Minneapolis Downtown Skyline Viewed from the Sculpture Garden of the Walker Art Center.

…."We are heading northwest from Minneapolis to the Dakotas."

These above words in italics are from the 3rd sentence of ” Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" , here The ZMM Narrator specifies Minneapolis as where he starts his journey.

Downtown. Minneapolis, MN. The “Walker Art Center and Sculpture Gardens” Click Here. are slightly Southwest of Downtown Minneapolis. Click Here.
….Robert Pirsig, author of ZMM, grew up in Minneapolis. His father was Maynard E. Pirsig, Dean of the University Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis.
….To learn more about ZMM Book, Robert Pirsig, His Father Maynard Pirsig, The Walker Art Center, and/or Painting “Church of The Minorites” by Lyonel Feininger, Click Here. => AND after this page comes up . Do > Top > Edit > Find > Type Words Topic you Want .
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(Photo = 102-0197c ...... ZMM Page = 003 ...... WayPt = -019`|e|' 0820ft)

The Walker Art Center Main Building, June 2002

…."On the way out I open one more door, compulsively. There on the wall I see something which sends a spine-tingling feeling along my neck. .. It’s a painting. I’ve had no recollection of it but now I know he bought it and put it there. And suddenly I know it’s not a painting, it’s a print of a painting he ordered from New York and which DeWeese had frowned at because it was a print and prints are of art and not art themselves, a distinction he didn’t recognize at the time." (ZMM, page 160).

There is ANOTHER Robert Pirsig connection to Minneapolis.
.... Hanging in Phaedrus' English Department office in Bozeman was a reproduction of painting named '' “The Church of the Minorites” '' by Lionel Feininger.
….Author Robert Pirsig very likely discovered this painting in the Walker Art Center Pictured /\ Above /\.

Minneapolis, MN is home to Both Author Robert Pirsig AND The Walker Art Center. The Walker Gallery Building, Shown in /\ Above /\ Photo, by Henry Gurr June 2002. Since 2002, this building has undergone a vigorous expansion and modernization, which you will see in Next & THIRD Next Google Street View Photos.

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(Photo = 102-0197c ...... ZMM Page = 160 ..... WayPt = -007e)

Looking Southwest: The Walker Art Center Main Building, As Seen From Steps Which Go Down North To Walker’s Sculpture Garden. Google Street View Image Oct 2012

** REPEATING PREVIOUS PHOTO CAPTION **
…."On the way out I open one more door, compulsively. There on the wall I see something which sends a spine-tingling feeling along my neck. .. It’s a painting. I’ve had no recollection of it but now I know he bought it and put it there. And suddenly I know it’s not a painting, it’s a print of a painting he ordered from New York and which DeWeese had frowned at because it was a print and prints are of art and not art themselves, a distinction he didn’t recognize at the time." (ZMM, page 160).

There is ANOTHER Robert Pirsig connection to Minneapolis.
.... Hanging in Phaedrus' English Department office in Bozeman was a reproduction of painting named '' “The Church of the Minorites” '' by Lionel Feininger.
….Author Robert Pirsig very likely discovered this painting in the Walker Art Center Pictured /\ Above /\.
….If you compare the GSV Photo /\ Above /\, with the Previous Photo you will see the

Minneapolis, MN is home to Both Author Robert Pirsig AND The Walker Art Center.
-- *** o0OOO0o ***

…DATE-LINE: February 23, 2021. by Henry Gurr.
Walker Art Center: Changes Since My 2002 ZMM Route Research Trip.
….After my 2002 visit to The Walker Gallery Building, shown in Previous Photo, this building has undergone ”a vigorous expansion and modernization” => This you can see by contrasting /\ Above /\ Photo, Image Oct 2012, with my Previous 2002 Photo.
The Differences from 2002 to 2012 Are These =>
…1) The Large Glassed-in Exhibit Hall is GONE, and in its place there was a Multicolored Construction Barrier Fence: The fence is low enough so you can see lots of renovation work already underway, including construction crane in distance. Further away are Brick Apartment Building,
…2) The result of all this even more “vigorous expansion and modernization” work mentioned in 1), you will see in the SECOND Photo Next, which is A Google Street View (Image July 2019), Which Shows the Walker Gallery from a different street.
..****************..
You Can Go To The Google Street View (GSV) of the /\ Above /\ Photo Scene, AND Then Rotate to View (And follow), The Path North, All The Way To See Walker’s Sculpture Garden, As Well As The Skyline On Downtown Minneapolis, MN. =>
….You Will See That you Google Street View (GSV) Has Many Advantages, Since => In Addition To 360 Deg Full Circle Panorama, It Offers Ability To Magnify, and see better, what a Distant Details, Such As What A Distant Sign Says!!
… To Got to This Google Street View, Click Here. And AFTER Comes up => Click the Google Street View Image, WHERE you want the “VIEW” To go. => Thus you can Successively Click-Click-Click = “GSV Drive” The street you see on your computer screen. You can even click on a Side Street, to “GSV Drive” the Side Street !! (If Available.)

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(Photo = GoogStVu WalkerArtCenter Oct2012ImgFacad FmSculptureGdnSteps MinneapolisMN.jpg ...... ZMM Page = 160 ..... WayPt = -007e)

The Church of the Minorites by Lyonel Feininger.

…."But the print, Feininger’s Church of the Minorites, had an appeal to him that was irrelevant to the art in that its subject, a kind of Gothic cathedral, created from semiabstract lines and planes and colors and shades, it seemed to reflect his mind’s vision of the Church of Reason and that was why he’d put it here.
…. And suddenly I know it’s not a painting, it’s a print of a painting he ordered from New York and which DeWeese had frowned at because it was a print and prints are of art and not art themselves, a distinction he didn’t recognize at the time. But the print, Feininger’s "Church of the Minorites," had an appeal to him that was irrelevant to the art in that its subject, a kind of Gothic cathedral, created from semiabstract lines and planes and colors and shades, seemed to reflect his mind’s vision of the Church of Reason and that was why he’d put it here. All this comes back now. This was his office. A find. This is the room I am looking for! "

Minneapolis, MN.
….This Painting Is Found At The Walker Art Center, Just Southwest of Downtown Minneapolis.
…. Painting Credit Line => Lyonel Feininger, Barfüsserkirche II (Church of the Minorites II), 1926, oil on canvas, 43-1/2 x 37-1/2 x 2-1/2" framed, Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Gift of the T. B. Walker Foundation, Gilbert M. Walker Fund, 1943. © Copyright.
…..Permission to reproduce on ZMMquality.org is granted by The Walker Art Center.
-- *** o0OOO0o ***


Internet Resourced Page => For More Information About All-Things-ZMM-Book, Such as =>
….a) Walker Art Sculpture Garden, b) The Older Walker Art Entrance & Plaza, c) As well as Photos of John (ZMM Book) Sutherland's former home ( which happens to be about a mile south of the Walker Art Center), d) Lyonel Feininger's Church Of The Minorites, and e) Surrounding Minneapolis Area, which happens to be the start of the “ZMM Route”.
RIGHT CLICK AND SELECT NEW TAB . => AND after this page comes up > Do > Top > Edit > Find > Type Words Topic you Want .

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(Photo = Walker Art Gallery wac_116e.jpg ...... ZMM Page = 160 ...... WyPt = -018`|w|' 0830ft)

Looking West: The Walker Art Center Main Building, As Seen From Lyndale Avenue S. Google Street View Image July 2019

1790 Lyndale Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN is home to Both Author Robert Pirsig AND The Walker Art Center.
- *** o0OOO0o *** -
To See Lots of Good Photos, Both Inside & Especially The Fantastic Outside, Use Your Favorite Search Engine To Find >> …. The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
….However the photos that come with Google Map, Satellite View (Click Left Side Panel), Are Mostly In The Walker’s Sculpture Garden, Many Of Which Are “Modernistic Avant-Garde.
- *** o0OOO0o *** -


…DATE-LINE: February 23, 2021. by Henry Gurr.
Walker Art Center: Changes Since My 2002 ZMM Route Research Trip.
….After my visit to The Walker Gallery Building, shown in THIRD Previous Photo, 2002, this building has undergone TWO vigorous expansions and modernizations =>
….This you can see by contrasting /\ Above /\ Photo, Image July 2019, with the SECOND Previous Photo. Image, Oct 2012, and then with the THIRD Previous Photo July 2002...****************.

You Can Go To The Google Street View (GSV) of the /\ Above /\ Photo Scene, AND Then Rotate to View (And follow), Lyndale Avenue S, Which Merges Into Hennepin Avenue. Which If You follow Far Enough, Will Intersect Colfax Avenue, Where Robert Pirsig Got Off The Street Car, To Go To Grade School. This Intersection Is Shown In The NEXT Photo.
….You Will See That you Google Street View (GSV) Has Many Advantages, Since => In Addition To 360 Deg Full Circle Panorama, It Offers Ability To Magnify, and see better, what a Distant Details, Such As What A Distant Sign Says!!
… To Got to This Google Street View, Click Here. And AFTER Comes up => Click the Google Street View Image, WHERE you want the “VIEW” To go. => Thus you can Successively Click-Click-Click = “GSV Drive” The street you see on your computer screen. You can even click on a Side Street, to “GSV Drive” the Side Street !! (If Available.)

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(Photo = GoogStVu WalkerArtCenter Jly2019ImgNuestFacad 1790LyndaleAve MinneapolisMN.jpg MinneapolisMN.jpg ...... ZMM Page = 160 ..... WayPt = -007f)

Late Evening Traffic on Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis
"John and Sylvia are not mass people and neither are most of the others going their way. It is against being a mass person that they seem to be revolting. And they feel that technology has got a lot to do with the forces that are trying to turn them into mass people and they don’t like it. So far it’s still mostly a passive resistance, flights into the rural areas when they are possible and things like that, but it doesn’t always have to be this passive." (John Sutherland and his wife Sylvia, are one of the four main characters in ZMM.)
Minneapolis, MN is where I was halted by congested late evening heavy traffic on Hennepin Avenue (a major highway) at the intersection of Colfax Avenue. In a recent letter, Mr. Pirsig said of the two photos in this composite photo: “memories came crashing down!” He went on to say that as a child he rode the streetcar on Hennepin to his Elementary School, which was at that time, located just to the west of this intersection. He, for many years, must have here waited daily for the streetcar to take him home.
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At The End Of A Very Pleasant Summer Day. 2000 South Colfax Ave, Minneapolis.

…"And their things, their monster keeps eating up land and polluting their air and lakes, and there is no way to strike back at it, and hardly any way to escape it. That attitude is not hard to come to. You go through a heavy industrial area of a large city and there it all is, the technology. In front of it are high barbed-wire fences, locked gates, signs saying NO TRESPASSING, and beyond, through sooty air, you see ugly strange shapes of metal and brick whose purpose is unknown, and whose masters you will never see."

At the end of a pleasant summer day, none of the"sooty air… ugly strange shapes." are seen anywhere near to 2000 South Colfax Ave, Minneapolis, MN. (In /\ Above /\ Photo, see in green “South Colfax Avenue” on the signpost). Pirsig attended elementary school about four blocks North where Colfax intersects Hennepin Avenue, Hennepin Avenue is easy to identify on maps, because it is a major cross town 4 lane boulevard, that runs at a ~25 angle from North.
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In The Above ZMM Passage, The Narrator Takes Up One Of His Major Topic Which Negatively Inflict Us In Our Modern Times.
…These are the problems introduced by “mindless technology. And while recognizing the supreme benefits of technology, tho whole of ZMM is how to not only live constructively with technology (The Godhead), but in the very midst of it, achieve a positive productive society, which efficiently (and effectively) uses natural resources, while avoiding much of the Ugly-ness, and Desolation seen in our modern cities, and especially in their Mining & Manufacturing areas. …
Click Here To See ZMMQ Gallery Photo Showing => Billings, MT, Where Heavy Industries, Greet the Traveler. Low Quality.
….This Photo Serves To Well Illustrate (Metaphoric Bridge Connection), The Previous (To Billings) Photo’s ZMM Narrator Passage => “The cause of our current social crises, he would have said, is a Genetic Defect Within The Nature Of Reason Itself”. And Our Current Modes Of Rationality, Which Are Not Moving Society Forward Into A Better World. They Are Taking It Further And Further From That Better World.”

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The Discussion Of “A Genetic Defect Within The Nature Of Reason Itself,”
…This Worry, Leads To The ZMM Narrator’s Discusses Of The Problems Of “Reason + Rationality , ” Shown Below => My 3 ZMMQ Gallery Photos Which Have This Discussion Are At The Blue Links.

Click Here For Gallery Photo With Narrator’s “the ghost that underlies all of technology, all of modern science, all of Western thought. It was the ghost of rationality itself. [In other words, this ghost is the basis of our civilization’s primary received knowledge.] ”.

Click Here For Gallery Photo With Narrator’s “… a ghost [of received knowledge] which calls itself rationality but whose appearance is that of incoherence and meaninglessness, which causes the most normal of everyday acts to seem slightly mad because of their irrelevance to anything else. This is the ghost of normal everyday assumptions which declares that the ultimate purpose of life, which is to keep alive, is impossible, but that this is the ultimate purpose of life anyway, ”.

Click Here For Gallery Photo With Narrator’s “This is the ghost [received knowledge] of normal everyday assumptions which declares … that this is the ultimate purpose of life anyway, so that great minds struggle to cure diseases so that people may live longer, but only madmen ask why. One lives longer in order that he may live longer. There is no other purpose. That is what the [received knowledge] ghost says.… ”.

Here We Must Realize (And By Metaphoric Bridge Connections, Keep In Mind), That Author Robert Pirsig’s Discussion In The 3 Blue Links Above, Is Because He Offers Some VERY Good Ways To Solve These Problems,

…AND At The Same Time Provide VERY Good Reasons For Living. This Is Provided By “Quality” , The Discussion Of Which starts In ZMM Chapter 14, Page 153, And Is The Major Focus Of ZMM For The Remainder Of Author Robert Pirsig’s Book.
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(Photo = 102-0251 …… ZMM Page = 015 …… WayPt = -004w)

The Former Home Of John & Sylvia Sutherland At =>

…2649 South Colfax Ave, Minneapolis. MN.

…"Later John mumbles something a few times, looks up and announces, "This does it—this just does the whole thing for us . . . Now we can go back for another eight years on Twenty-six-forty-nine Colfax Avenue." Sylvia says mournfully, "Let’s not talk about that." ”
NOTE: John Sutherland and his wife Sylvia, are two of the four main characters in ZMM.

2649 South Colfax Ave, Minneapolis, MN. At this address, dusk shrouds this quiet well maintained home. From the contextual evidence contained in ZMM, we may deduce that John's statement about Colfax Avenue surely must be about his home in Minneapolis, MN.
In a recent letter, ZMM Author Robert Pirsig said of this photograph "this could be John's house. [they] moved to the country in late '70's." Robert Pirsig went to elementary school about ten blocks north of here. The children Pirsig went to school with would have come from this neighborhood. As a child, he may have walked through this area of town.
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RIGHT CLICK AND SELECT “NEW TAB” => The Page that comes up shows 5 Albums => Please read the Description of FOURTH Album, Then Click-on The Photo => After a page of 18 Small Photos Comes Up You My Click-On Any Of The Small Photos. You should Click Several Times to Get the Largest View. You can “ClickDrag” the “Sliders” at Bottom & Right, to See More Off Your Screen Edges.
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…Sure enough, www.mapquest.com shows 2649 South Colfax Ave, as a N-S street, just Soutnwest of the downtown area. RIGHT CLICK AND SELECT “NEW TAB” => To See This Address (RedPinpoint), On Google Map Satellite View.
…NOTE:1: AFTER this Google Satellite View comes up, you will see at LEFT, a Photo Viewer Panel , where you may, Lower Left Corner, click to see a Google Street View of this location.
…ALNATERNATELY, you will see at Lower Right => An Orange Color Pegman. You can ClickDrag this Pegman to the Red PinPoint, to see the Google Street View of this location.
….The Sutherland house (FancyColors) will likely be seen through the trees, at right, 45 deg to the Northeast.
…NOTE2: The Minneapolis Downtown area is off screen to the upper right.
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(Photo = 102-0246 ...... ZMM Page = 143 ...... WayPt = -003w)

Yes, There It Is In Gold, 2649, In the Fancy Carved Wood Over the Door.
"Now we can go back for another eight years on Twenty-six-forty-nine Colfax Avenue."
In the Summer of 2006, this house was empty and for rent; I fully used the chance to take photos of all the fantastic colored architecture in bright sunlight. These photos can be found in the album "Twenty-Six-Forty-Nine Colfax Avenue, Minneapolis." It took me several minutes to adjust the telephoto of my camera to get this shot. Also, due to the very late evening darkness, this photo had to be brightened. I used the very handy (and free download) Irfanview Photo Editor to do this.
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Satellite View Illustrates Speculation As To => What Was The ZMM Narrator's Route Out of Minneapolis That Early Monday, July 1968?

…. “Chris and I are traveling to Montana with some friends riding up ahead, and maybe headed farther than that. Plans are deliberately indefinite, more to travel than to arrive anywhere. We are just vacationing. Secondary roads are preferred. Paved county roads are the best, state highways are next. Freeways are the worst. We want to make good time, but for us now this is measured with emphasis on "good" rather than "time" and when you make that shift in emphasis the whole approach changes”.

Letter from Robert Pirsig 30 Sept 2005 states: Click Here.
…. "When John and Sylvia and Chris and I set out that morning we could not have dreamed that 37 years later we would get questions from around the world about which route we were going to take, yet here they are. I wonder what the questions will be like 37 years from now.
…. "I've marked up the map you sent me with my best guess, but it could be wrong. The exact route out of Minneapolis is very vague in memory but I seem to recall that we went north to the US 10 highway that still follows the old Northern Pacific railroad (now Burlington Northern) through Anoka, St, Cloud, and Fargo to the West Coast. The freeway that replaced it was I-94. US 10 goes more north than we wanted to go, so after a while we worked our way west and north along a number of roads to highway 210 and followed it to Oakes, North Dakota.
…. "The references to Excelsior and Savage [In Mr Pirsig’s Book] “Lila” were for other [shorter] trips that John and I took. Only the first chapter touched down there, not the trip itself. I threw in those names because they seemed to have a mild "not-quite-in-this-world" connotation that might help foreshadow things later on in the book. The name, "Phaedrus," was used for the same purpose.
…. "If we had been smarter we probably would have taken Hwy 55 but we didn't really have any route in mind and I don't remember even looking at a map as we left Minneapolis. We just eyeballed it, and went north and west along whatever looked good at the moment. The angle of the sun was our main guide. To really reproduce the feelings of that trip you should just estimate the general direction you want to go and pick a road--any road--and see where it takes you. Road numbers and maps are very static. Not knowing where you're going is more Dynamic and that is how we felt that day."

In The /\ Above /\ Satellite View, You See Three Possibilities For The ZMM Narrator's Route Out of Minneapolis, MN.
..A) According to the ZMM Passage above, I-94 would be “ measured with emphasis on " time " rather than " good ". , and clearly to be AVOIDED !!.
..B) Marked /\ Above /\ by Red Dots => Mr Pirsig above says “very vague in memory” is US-10.
..C) Marked /\ Above /\ by Green Dots => But Mr Pirsig goes on to say “"If we had been smarter we probably would have taken Hwy 55” . …


For The Decisive Reasons Given In The Next Photo, Henry Gurr Continues To Believe That => Green Dots Rt 55 => BEST FITS The Highway Clues In ZMM.

EXPLANATION: Re Mr Pirsig’s Above => . " … highway 210 and followed it to Oakes, North Dakota.
….Mr Pirsig’s above "a number of roads to highway 210 , refers to Highway Minnesota Rt 210, which the ZMM Route going West, “takes up” at Fergus Falls, MN, and follows it to the Town of Breckenridge, MN. There the Highway crosses The Rather UN-Noticeable, Red River, and simultaneously leaves Minnesota, enters the Town of Wahpeton ND, and “takes up”, North Dakota Rt 13.
….This is the road seen in /\ Above /\ Satellite View, at the Upper Left, WHERE you see the Town of Wyndmere, ND. The Road (Rt 13) continuing West, is of Special Significance, since the NEXT Town (Milnor. ND), is where ZMM Route Goes by “The ZMM Route Picnic Canopy”, a Black & White Photo of which, originally appeared on the => Bodley Head Ltd Publishers of 1974 edition of ZMM.
….AND THEN was placed on the Internet, WHERE => This Photo, Has Become (Ever Since ~1975) => A Famous World Wide Web Photo!
….From This, An Important Major Observation => This ~1975 site comes up very high in Google Searches, despite its non-working links, and the fact that it only has one photo ,and a black & white one at that.
…. THUS This ~1975 Webpage Demonstrates The Very High Holding Power Of An Early Start AND from this (in Google searches), still benefits from the many, many sites that still link to here, after all these years!! And despite the fact that there is very little still there, except the Ghost of History!!.
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As mentioned by Mr Pirsig in his letter above, “The ZMM Route” (as seen in /\ Above /\ Satellite View), continues along North Dakota Rt 13, to Oakes, ND.
…. Forthcoming Photos show views along .this road.
..****************..

All This Exactly “Fits” The Opening Of ZMM Chapter 3 => Concerning the “Red River” AND “Breckenridge”!!
….Here Is what the ZMM Narrator says. =>
“By the time we are out of the Red River Valley the storm clouds are everywhere and almost upon us. ….. John and I have discussed the situation [back] in Breckenridge and decided to keep going until we have to stop. …. That shouldn’t be long now.

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(Photo = GoogSat 2649S ColfaxAveMinneapolisMN I-94 BreckenridgeMN+Rt55 Gn+US10Rd.jpg ...... ZMM Page = 004 ...... WayPt = NA )

Heading Northwest From Minneapolis
"But once we caught on, of course, nothing could keep us off these roads, weekends, evenings, vacations. We have become real secondary-road motorcycle buffs and found there are things you learn as you go. .. We have learned how to spot the good ones on a map, for example. If the line wiggles, that’s good. That means hills. If it appears to be the main route from a town to a city, that’s bad. The best ones always connect nowhere with nowhere and have an alternate that gets you there quicker."
Rural Rt 10 Northwest of Minneapolis, MN Considering the above ZMM passage, what highway(s) would the ZMM Narrator have chosen from Minneapolis? Mark Richardson in his forthcoming book, reminded me of a passage from Mr. Pirsig's second book, Lila: "Redford says he's always had a special interest in Minnesota. His movie "Ordinary People" was a Minnesota story, although it was filmed in northern Illinois. His college roommate came from Minnesota, and he'd visited his house there and never forgotten it. .. "Where did he live?" Phædrus asks. .. "Lake Minnetonka," Redford says, "Do you know that area?" .. "Sure. The first chapter of my book touched down for a second at Excelsior, on Lake Minnetonka." Recently, we asked Mr. Pirsig if these words referred to their travel route that July of 1969. His complete reply is given in the 3rd previous photo. There, he implies that the towns of Savage (Southwestern suburb of Minneapolis) and Excelsior (near Minnetonka), were several areas for weekend rides, rather than part of the ZMM Narrator's route. So, on your ZMM Pilgrimage, whether on a weekend ride or starting out on a ZMM Pilgrimage, you might try the following "ZMM Quality filled" route that connects to Minneapolis to the ZMM Route on Rt 55 where you may continue the ZMM Route: from Sutherland's home at 2649 S. Colfax, go West on Lake Street. After several miles, angle left onto Minnetonka Blvd (Rt 7), which goes directly to the center of Minnetonka, MN, and continue West to Excelsior, MN. Here, on the west side of town, (consult a map) you could turn North onto a wonderful twisty road that runs along a series of "near islands" in Lake Minnetonka. This road goes thru towns of Shorewood, Tonka Bay, Spring Park, and Mound. "If the line wiggles on a map, that’s good." From here Pilgrims can then explore the narrator's pleasant and beloved back country roads "eyeballing it" North and West on their way to Rt 55. Thus Pilgrims Should also heed Mr. Pirsig's advice mentioned on the previous photo: make your own route as you travel!!
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(Photo = Summer2006-0176 ...... Lila passage is near Start Ch 19. ...... WayPt = -011i)

A Google Street View Of The “Lakes & Marshes” By Route 55 Northwest Of Minneapolis, MN.

…" I can see by my watch, without taking my hand from the left grip of the cycle, that it is eight-thirty in the morning. The wind, even at sixty miles an hour, is warm and humid. When it’s this hot and muggy at eight-thirty, I’m wondering what it’s going to be like in the afternoon.
…In the wind are pungent odors from the marshes by the road. We are in an area of the Central Plains filled with thousands of duck hunting sloughs, heading northwest from Minneapolis toward the Dakotas. This highway is an old concrete two-laner that hasn’t had much traffic since a four-laner went in parallel to it several years ago. When we pass a marsh the air suddenly becomes cooler. Then, when we are past, it suddenly warms up again. "
…NOTE: In this ZMM Passage (as is true for the passages of the NEXT 13 photos), Author Robert Pirsig wants the ZMM Reader to know by Metaphoric Bridge Connection (MBC), about the good qualities and of traveling the secondary roads. AND as a person travels on them learn to “see” what is “really there”!

~1 Mile Northwest of Buffalo, MN,

… In His Book “''Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance,” (ZMM)., Author Robert Pirsig, Wants Us To Remember That ANY TIME There Is. “A Next Paragraph Abrupt Switch”. Either Way, Between Chautauqua & Travel Narrative, We Then Are To =>
..1) Take notice and actively, poetically see the Metaphoric Bridge Connections (MBC), either way, between the a) Chautauqua Lecture and b) Travel Narrative Scenery+Actions...
..2) We should realize these MBC’s are carefully and purposefully put here by Author Robert Pirsig for this very emphasis.
..3) In fact, it is very likely that the physical landscape locations along the ZMM Route, were chosen for this very purpose. This is because these descriptions above a) & b) would effectively two-way illuminate (by MBC) each of the respective Chautauqua Topics AND Travel Narrative+Actions, that Mr Pirsig wanted to present in his book.
..4) For example, this is seen in TWO different “types” of Metaphoric Bridge Connections, which Author Robert Pirsig wants The ZMM Reader to see =>
…A) In ZMM after the Narrator finishes discussing the ''Crisis of the Three Mathematical Geometries, '' there is a Next Paragraph “Abrupt Switch” to the Travel Narrative, and actions in the town of Three Forks, MT.
…B) In ZMM there are Metaphorical Telegraphs For Special Emphasis or Added Relationships” such as at The Lochsa River Canyon Idaho Campground, where The Narrator says a seeming unimportant side note => “Some birds fly up from the shadowy hill into the sunlight and I watch them until they’re out of sight. ” But the alert ZMM Reader must realize this another of many very important Master Motifs, where this is => Author Robert Pirsig’s way of telling us (Master Motif Metaphorical Telegraph), what has been going wrong in the Narrator’s communication with Chris. And this seeming unimportant side note, is actually Author Pirsig’s way to tell us as readers, to know that he knows, that this treatment of Chris is wrong, and chooses these Master Motif ways to tell us this.
Click Here To See ZMMQ Gallery Photo & Discussion Of Chris &The Narrator’s Lochsa River Canyon Idaho Campground.
..5) AND we are to feel these Metaphoric Bridge Connections (MBC) emotionally!
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Click Here For More Information => Concerning Analogy, Metaphors, and Metaphoric Bridge Connections (MBC), That Are Found In The Book “''Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance'' ” (ZMM).
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A Listing Of Major Topics That Are Taken Up In The Second Text Page Of Robert Pirsig’s “Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. ” (ZMM).
…This following list is made from Robert Pirsig own words starting on page 4. We see that Mr Pirsig even on the second text page of his book, that he not only tells us the Major Topics, for the rest of his book, but also the nature, style, and approach he will use and the reasons for it,.
…SUGGESTION: If you have some time, pull out your paper copy of ZMM, and read starting at the beginning, to see how Author Robert Pirsig does this, so nice and compact!
…AND send me an email if you see more items that need to be added to the following, or you don’t agree with mine.
(1) Plans are deliberately indefinite, more to travel than to arrive anywhere. We are just vacationing. '' [A good way for productive learning AND a good method for discovery of good new ideas & good ways of doing things. ]
(2) '' Secondary roads are preferred. Paved county roads are the best, state highways are next. Freeways are the worst. '' [The ZMM Narrator introduces the topic of what is good, and wants us to notice the reasons why. This topic is continued in (3) &(4) next down.]
(3) '' We want to make good time, but for us now this is measured with emphasis on "good" rather than "time" and ''
(4) '' when you make that shift in emphasis the whole approach changes. Twisting hilly roads are long in terms of seconds but are much more enjoyable on a cycle where you bank into turns and don’t get swung from side to side in any compartment. Roads with little traffic are more enjoyable, as well as safer, & no billboards . Roads free of drive-ins and are better, roads where groves and meadows and orchards and lawns come almost to the shoulder, where kids wave to you when you ride by, ''
() '' where people look from their porches to see who it is, where
(5) [It is along such rural roads that => ] ''when you stop to ask directions or information the answer tends to be longer than you want rather than short, where people ask where you’re from and how long you’ve been riding. '' [This is what happens in what the ZMM Narrator calls '' “Secondary America” '' as opposed to the Narrator’s '' “Primary America”. '' ]
(6) '' It was some years ago that my wife and I and our friends first began to catch on to these roads. '' [The problem of blindness to what is “really there”, and sometimes it takes many “exposures”, before you can begin to “see” what is “really there”.]
(7) '' We took them [these rural roads] once in a while for variety or for a shortcut to another main highway, and each time the scenery was grand and we left the road with a feeling of relaxation and enjoyment. '' [This '' feeling of relaxation and enjoyment, '' is often a very good guide (and indicator) as to when you are proceeding with correct and good action.]
(8) '' We did this time after time before realizing what should have been obvious: these roads are truly different from the main ones. '' [This is a continuation of The ZMM Narrator’s telling us of => Good ways for productive learning AND a good method for discovery of good new ideas & good ways of doing things. ]
(9) '' The whole pace of life and personality of the people who live along them are different. '' [This is a continuation of The ZMM Narrator’s telling us of => How to see the differences between his '' “Secondary America” '' as opposed to his '' “Primary America”. '' ]
(10) '' They’re not going anywhere. They’re not too busy to be courteous. ''
(11) '' The hereness and nowness of things is something they know all about. '' [An aspect of Michael Polanyi tacit knowledge.] [Here the ZMM Narrator introduces the major topic and virtues of '' “The hereness and nowness of things. ”. '' In other words => Be sure that you are aware of the things immediately around you and thus be => Present in the here and now. ]
(12) The discovery was a real find. '' [ZMM Narrator’s is telling us of the major topic of => Noticing when and how you have connected to reality.]
(13) '' I’ve wondered why it took us so long to catch on. We saw it and yet we didn’t see it. '' [The whole problem of blindness to what is “really there”.]
NOTE: You may see the complete list (1) thru (34) in the above Blue Link.
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(Photo = GoogStVu ~1miNwOfBuffaloMN SmLakeWithEdgeMarsh&Cattailsl .jpg …… ZMM Page = 003 …… WayPt = -002i)

Heading Northwest on Route 55.

…. "This highway is an old concrete two-laner that hasn’t had much traffic since a four-laner went in parallel to it several years ago."

Imagine you are "heading northwest" (ZMM page 03) just prior to daybreak.
…. Please study your Minnesota (MN) Map and look close for Highways that FIT the clues in ZMM Chapter One => As to what route the ZMM Narrator (Robert Pirsig) followed out of Minneapolis in July 1968.
…. Rt55 is practically the ONLY =>
....old "beat-up concrete" highways (page 003)" which "is an old concrete two-laner" (page 003) "that hasn’t had much traffic since a four-laner went in parallel to it several years ago" (page 003) where it is easy to "miss our turn" (page 021), despite a sign “as big as a barn” (page 021), AND soon thereafter “crosses this freeway” (page 021).
….ALSO very contrary to US-10 …. Rt 55 has several “road side rest areas, for which => “The picnic benches are abandoned at this hour of the morning. We have the whole place to ourselves. John goes across the grass to a cast-iron pump and starts pumping water to drink.”

SPECIAL NOTE: In The Summer Of 2002, I(Henry Gurr), Was Not Aware Of Mr. Pirsig In His Letter Mentioned Previous Photo. The US-10 Route Mentioned By Him Was Also Studied 2002 By Henry Gurr, But Was Not Studied Further, When The Virtues Of Rt 55 Were Discovered.
…. Thus My Best Highway Choice Back In 2002, Was Rt 55, Based On Physical Clues, Further Discussed Below.
…. You Will Also Notice That Rt 55, Was Favorably Mentioned By Mr. Pirsig In His Above-Mentioned Letter.
As A Result, My Photos You See In This Album Are For Rt 55, Which I Continue To Believe BEST Fit The Highway Clues In ZMM.

-- '''******** o0OOO0o ******** '''

….FOR A DECISIVE NEGATIVE CONTRAST => FOUR YEARS LATER =>
….In The Summer Of 2006 I (Henry Gurr), Started In Minneapolis, Traveled Along Mr Pirsig’s Above-Mentioned Rt 10 Then Rt 210, To Reach Breckenridge, MN.
…..Since I have traveled BOTH Rt 10 AND Rt 55, I Can Say MOST DEFINITELY That Rt 55 Is A Much Better Fit To The Physical Route Clues And Scenery Descriptions Given In ZMM.
….For example Rt 55 has many more lakes, duck sloughs, and is a narrow two lane road that is much less commercialized and thus less traveled highway. Also Rt 55 vastly better fits the ZMM clues about the missed turn just prior to a freeway. For these reasons, Rt 55 would be quieter, safer, and a much more satisfactory Pirsig Pilgrim Experience! The 3rd photo next provides some suggestions how to leave Minneapolis. However, pilgrims should heed Mr. Pirsig's above advice. They might better just improvise their own back country roads.

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(Photo = 102-0256i ...... ZMM Page = 003...... WayPt = -002w)

Meadow, Cattails & Cracks. The Condition of Route 55 Northwest of Minneapolis Confirm Beat-Up Concrete Below.

"I’m happy to be riding back into this country. It is a kind of nowhere, famous for nothing at all and has an appeal because of just that. Tensions disappear along old roads like this. We bump along the beat-up concrete between the cattails and stretches of meadow and then more cattails and marsh grass."

Photo for ~6Mi West of Buffalo MN. needed. The cracks showing in the asphalt road confirm the “beat-up concrete” below. … Ann Lake and a huge National Wildlife Refuge hide (lurk?) behind this railroad embankment, and thus completely escape the traveler's attention.
….More obvious to the traveler is the very busy railroad track that runs along most of Rt55, northwest from Minneapolis. Beyond RR tracks are seen ancient leaning telegraph poles. These speak of times past and a different traffic that came this way. (Can you help with photos to illustrate this passage from ZMM? If you can provide marsh life and landscape photos of this area, please see Link Below at Contact Me.)
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( Photo = 102-0284 ...... ZMM Page = 003 …… WayPt = 000k = Photo at WayPt = 010w ~4Mi West of Lowry MN.)

Dawn's Pink Northern Light Illuminates Lakes Along Route 55

…" Here and there is a stretch of open water and if you look closely you can see wild ducks at the edge of the cattails. And turtles. . . . There’s a red-winged blackbird.
…I whack Chris’s knee and point to it.
"What!" he hollers.
…"Blackbird!"
He says something I don’t hear.” What?" I holler back.
…He grabs the back of my helmet and hollers up, "I’ve seen lots of those, Dad!"
cold. The blackbirds were gone then. But now in July they’re back and everything is at its alivest and every foot of these sloughs is humming and cricking and buzzing and chirping, a whole community of millions of living things living out their lives in a kind of benign continuum. "
NOTE: In the above ZMM passage the Narrator tells us that all this “alive creatures” is good even “benign” which means gentle and kindly. not harmful in effect. In the NEXT photo the Narrator offers an a more troubling viewpoint.

~5 Miles West of Buffalo, MN where the pink northern light of dawn illuminates the lakes along Route 55. My Rand-McNally map shows a major portion of this Minnesota highway as being a "Scenic Route"! Bravo Rand-McNally!! This mapmaker agrees with Pirsig on the Travel Quality of this road! *************************

( Photo = 102-0259 ...... ZMM Page = 003 …… WayPt = -001w)

Lakes, Marshes, And Wildlife Along Route 55.

…["Here and there is a stretch of open water and if you look closely you can see wild ducks at the edge of the cattails. And turtles.] . .I have seen these marshes a thousand times, yet each time they’re new. It’s wrong to call them benign. You could just as well call them cruel and senseless, they are all of those things, but the reality of them overwhelms halfway conceptions."
…There! A huge flock of red-winged blackbirds ascends from nests in the cattails, startled by our sound. I swat Chris’s knee a second time . . . then I remember he has seen them before.
NOTE: In the previous photo, in the ZMM passage, the Narrator tells us that all this “alive creatures” is good even “benign” which means gentle and kindly. not harmful in effect.
…However above passage the Narrator offers an a different, more troubling viewpoint => " cruel and senseless. Please know that this troubling viewpoint, is one of the problems of our modern times, that Author Robert Pirsig wants to offer an answer to. =>
Here We Must Realize (And By Metaphoric Bridge Connections, Keep In Mind), That Author Robert Pirsig Gives Us The Above Passage, Because This " Cruel And Senseless, Is A Troubling & Erronous 20th Century Viewpoint. For Which He Offers Some VERY Good Ways To Solve These Problems,
…AND At The Same Time Provide VERY Good Reasons For Living That Is NOT " Cruel And Senseless. “. This Is Provided By “Quality” , The Discussion Of Which starts In ZMM Chapter 14, Page 153, And Is The Major Focus Of ZMM For The Remainder Of Author Robert Pirsig’s Book.

~6 miles west of Buffalo, MN. (Photos are needed to illustrate first part of ZMM after Buffalo, especially marshes, RWBB and ducks . If you can provide marsh life and landscape photos of this area, please contact me.)
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… In His Book ''Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance,” (ZMM), Author Robert Pirsig, Wants Us To Remember That ANY TIME There Is. “A Next Paragraph Abrupt Switch”. Either Way, Between Chautauqua & Travel Narrative, We Then Are To =>
..1) Take notice and actively, poetically see the Metaphoric Bridge Connections (MBC), either way, between the a) Chautauqua Lecture and b) Travel Narrative Scenery+Actions...
..2) We should realize these MBC’s are carefully and purposefully put here by Author Robert Pirsig for this very emphasis.
..3) In fact, it is very likely that the physical landscape locations along the ZMM Route, were chosen for this very purpose. This is because these descriptions above a) & b) would effectively two-way illuminate (by MBC) each of the respective Chautauqua Topics AND Travel Narrative+Actions, that Mr Pirsig wanted to present in his book.
..4) For example, one of the two different “types” of Metaphoric Bridge Connections, which Author Robert Pirsig Wants The ZMM Reader To See, Is In The Above ZMM Passage, and is explained as follows =>
…After the Narrator finishes discussing the “…overwhelms halfway conceptions." …
… ..Then there is a Next Sentence “Abrupt Switch” to => “There! A huge flock of red-winged blackbirds ascends .
..5) Here Author Robert Pirsig wants the “… reality of them overwhelms halfway conceptions." to apply (Metaphoric Bridge Connection) to the => “There! A huge flock of red-winged blackbirds ascends .
..6) Click Here For => A Special Study Ot The Major ZMM Topics => Quality, Reality, & Good Old Reality.
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( Photo = 103-0315c ...... ZMM Page = 003 ...... WayPt = 000k ...... Photo at WayPt = 028w 13 Mi NE of Oakes, ND.)

Minnesota Marshes and Lakes Are a Home to the Red-wing Blackbird
"There’s a red-winged blackbird. .. I whack Chris’s knee and point to it. .. "What!" he hollers. .. "Blackbird!" .. He says something I don’t hear. "What?" I holler back. .. He grabs the back of my helmet and hollers up, "I’ve seen lots of those, Dad!" .. "Oh!" I holler back. Then I nod. At age eleven you don’t get very impressed with red-winged blackbirds. You have to get older for that. For me this is all mixed with memories that he doesn’t have. Cold mornings long ago when the marsh grass had turned brown and cattails were waving in the northwest wind. The pungent smell then was from muck stirred up by hip boots while we were getting in position for the sun to come up and the duck season to open. Or winters when the sloughs were frozen over and dead and I could walk across the ice and snow between the dead cattails and see nothing but grey skies and dead things and cold. The blackbirds were gone then."
Photo of RWBB East of Maple Lake MN needed
************************************ (Photo = 103-0313c …… ZMM Page = 003 WayPt = 000 = Photo is actually at WayPt = 026w 16 Mi NE of Oakes ND.)

Minnesota Springtime Landscape Bursts Forth With Life!

… ["But now in July they’re back and everything is at its alivest and every foot of these sloughs is humming and cricking and buzzing and chirping, a whole community of millions of living things living out their lives in a kind of benign continuum.]
...You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other. In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You’re a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.
…On a cycle the frame is gone. You’re completely in contact with it all. You’re in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence [reality] is overwhelming. That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing, the same stuff you walk on, it’s right there, so blurred you can’t focus on it, yet you can put your foot down and touch it anytime, and the whole thing, the whole experience [reality], is never removed from immediate consciousness."

Photo needed for 5 Miles East of Maple Lake, MN.

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In the above ZMM passage notice especially =>
… "the sense of presence [reality] is overwhelming. … That concrete … below your foot is the real thing, … the whole experience [reality], is never removed from immediate consciousness."

…Thus we see as early as the second page of text that, Author Robert Pirsig’s clear & major emphasis on “reality” and immediate direct experience, which for him "is overwhelming."
… Click Here For => A Special Study Ot The Major ZMM Topics => Quality, Reality, & Good Old Reality.
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(Photo = 102-0283 …… ZMM Page = 004 WayPt = 000 = Photo is actually at WayPt = 009w 5Mi West of Glenwood MN)