Town of Unity Bathed In Orange Light of Sunset.

“We’ve come into the sage and sand of the desert and the engine’s started to sputter. I switch to the reserve gas tank and study the map. We fill up at a town called Unity and down the hot black road, through the sagebrush we go. .
…. Well, those were the commonest setbacks I can think of: out-of-sequence reassembly, intermittent failure and parts problems. But although setbacks are the commonest gumption traps they’re only the external cause of gumption loss. Time now to consider some of the internal gumption traps that operate at the same time.
…. As the course description of gumptionology indicated, this internal part of the field can be broken down into three main types of internal gumption traps: those that block affective understanding, called "value traps"; those that block cognitive understanding, called "truth traps"; and those that block psychomotor behavior, called "muscle traps." The value traps are by far the largest and the most dangerous group.
.... Of the value traps, the most widespread and pernicious is value rigidity. This is an inability to revalue what one sees because of commitment to previous values.“ (Cont.Next)

Two mi Northwest of Unity, OR. Please carefully note that Narrator. in mentioning the town name, implies the sense of Unity into his Gumption discussion. This is another example of the previously mentioned “Metaphoric Bridge Connection” Click Here. AFTER this page comes up, Do > Top > Edit > Find > … Metaphoric ..
…..Photo needed of the ZMM Gas Station or remnant thereof.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1222cb ...... ZMM Page = 279 ...... WayPt = 316w 3948ft)

The Warmth of Day Is Gone.
….Gumptionology Continues as We Head West and Up.

….“ In motorcycle maintenance, you must rediscover what you [should] do as you go. Rigid values make this impossible.“(Cont.Next)

Five miles Northwest of Unity, OR. Like the Narrator, I too am very tired when I get to this stretch of road. I stop to take a photo of the sunset, which is my habit.
…. As I am posing the shot, this Cyclist comes by, so I include him for “action”.
……Since I am stopped, I decide to rest, study ZMM for upcoming needed photos, look at my maps, and write notes. I needed to review ZMM for the next ZMM Sights I should be looking for, and also where a suitable campground might be.
….While doing this, the driver of a diesel pickup truck, with his wife, stop to see if I need help. Neighborly! And just like the Narrator says, this happened repeatedly in the semi desolate, low population, areas of the American West! Amazing! ! Amazing!
..****************..
NEW TOPIC: Although both the Narrator and I departed Brownlee Campground in the morning, you can tell I have only covered about half of the Narrator’s distance by evening, this the same day.
….Why am I so slow? First off, I drive slowly (less than 40 mph) because I want to take my time to enjoy the experience. Also, I won’t miss anything related to the ZMM research, for example, any ZMM Narrator’s travel descriptions I should be looking for.
For These Reasons, I Am Parked By The Road Much Of The Time! =>
…A) I must closely reread each ZMM passage for the scenes ahead, and as I drive carefully search for the corresponding ZMM scenes.
…B) For each scene I decide to photograph, I must record the GPS data and altitude.
…C) I am also constantly writing out full notes on the scenery I am passing through, what the signs say and what I am doing and experiencing.
…D) At each stopping point I also record the distance to (and names of) nearby towns plus my car odometer reading.
…E) All this reduces my overall road speed to typically less than half that of the Narrator.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1223cb ...... ZMM Page = 280 ...... WayPt = 317w 4048ft)

Now It’s Getting Cold Because =>
….Very Clear Low Humidity, Relatively High Altitude, Oregon Atmosphere Lets The Day’s Heat, Rapidly Escape to Outer Space!
….Gumptionology Continues as We Head West and Up.

….“The typical situation is that the motorcycle doesn’t work. The facts are there but you don’t see them. You’re looking right at them, but they don’t yet have enough value. This is what Phædrus was talking about. Quality, value, creates the subjects and objects of the world. The facts do not exist until value has created them. If your values are rigid you can’t really learn new facts.
.... This often shows up in premature diagnosis, when you’re sure you know what the trouble is, and then when it isn’t, you’re stuck. Then you’ve got to find some new clues, but before you can find them you’ve got to clear your head of old opinions. If you’re plagued with value rigidity you can fail to see the real answer even when it’s staring you right in the face because you can’t see the new answer’s importance.

….The Birth Of A New Fact Is Always A Wonderful Thing To Experience. It’s dualistically called a "discovery" because of the presumption that it has an existence independent of anyone’s awareness of it. When it comes along, it always has, at first, a low value. Then, depending on the value-looseness of the observer and the potential quality of the fact, its value increases, either slowly or rapidly, or the value wanes and the fact disappears. “(Cont. Next)

Five miles Northwest of Unity, OR.
..****************..
Attention!! Attention!! The Narrator’s Chautauqua mentioned in the above passage and the next photo discusses =>
..****************..

THE PROBLEM OF BEING STUCK, UN-ABLE TO “SEE” WHAT THE PROBLEM IS, AND HOW TO “SEE” “ANEW”, AND THUS BREAK OUT OF BEING STUCK.
….The perceptive reader will perceive this a major topic of ZMM, and a topic to which the Narrator returns throughout the book!!
The Finding Of New Facts Comes From => “The AHA -- Flash of Insight.”!!
….For More Information, And A Different Approach To, This Very Important Topic, Please See These =>
…A) My “AHA Flash of Insight” Article. Click Here.

…B) How To Apply The Narrator's "Finding New Facts" To Teaching, And Tutoring, And Learning. Click Here.

…C) Building On A Full Understanding of the “Flash Of Insight” => My Compact Explanation Of => “How Our Mind Works”. Click Here.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1223caz1.8 ...... ZMM Page = 280 ...... WayPt = 317w 4048ft)

”Discoveries” ARE When We Connect With REALITY, By The Action of QUALITY!
….This Is Precisely When NEW FACTS Are Formed, AND
…….This Is Precisely Where Previously Was A COMPLETE VOID In Our Understanding.

….[ “The birth of a new fact is always a wonderful thing to experience. It’s dualistically called a "discovery" because of the presumption that it has an existence independent of anyone’s awareness of it. When it comes along, it always has, at first, a low value. Then, depending on the value-looseness of the observer and the potential quality of the fact, its value increases, either slowly or rapidly, or the value wanes and the fact disappears. “ ]
.... “The overwhelming majority of facts, the sights and sounds that are around us every second and the relationships among them and everything in our memory—these have no Quality, in fact have a negative quality. If they were all present at once our consciousness would be so jammed with meaningless data we couldn’t think or act. “ (Cont.Next)

Wetmore Campground, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, nine and a half miles Northwest of Unity, OR.

************************
(Photo = 112-1226 ...... ZMM Page = 280 ...... WayPt = 318w 4474ft)

When You Are Caught, And Stuck =>
…It’s Usually Value Rigidity. Slow Down!
…….You Should Be Going Slow Anyway!
….Because It’s Cooler, and There Is More Moisture, Huge Trees Can Grow At These High Altitudes Near Blue Mountain Pass.

….“ So we preselect on the basis of Quality, or, to put it Phædrus’ way, the track of Quality preselects what data we’re going to be conscious of, and it makes this selection in such a way as to best harmonize what we are with what we are becoming.
.... What you have to do, if you get caught in this gumption trap of value rigidity, is slow down—you’re going to have to slow down anyway whether you want to or not—but slow down deliberately and go over ground that you’ve been over before to see if the things you thought were important were really important and to . . . well . . . just stare at the machine. There’s nothing wrong with that. Just live with it for a while. Watch it the way you watch a line when fishing and before long, as sure as you live, you’ll get a little nibble, a little fact asking in a timid, humble way if you’re interested in it. That’s the way the world keeps on happening. Be interested in it. “(Cont.Next)

Wetmore Campground, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, nine and a half miles Northwest of Unity, OR.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1226cz2.0 ...... ZMM Page = 280 ...... WayPt = 318w 4474ft)

Back On the Road With Gumptionology.

….“At first try to understand this new fact not so much in terms of your big problem as for its own sake. That problem may not be as big as you think it is. And that fact may not be as small as you think it is. It may not be the fact you want but at least you should be very sure of that before you send the fact away. Often before you send it away you will discover it has friends who are right next to it and are watching to see what your response is. Among the friends may be the exact fact you are looking for.“(Cont.Next)

Blue Mountain Pass, nine and a half miles Northwest of Unity, OR.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1228 ...... ZMM Page = 281 ...... WayPt = 319w 4379ft)

Having Passed Through The Really Tall Pines At The Highest Altitude Of Blue Mountain Pass, We Are On Our Way Down.

….“After a while you may find that the nibbles you get are more interesting than your original purpose of fixing the machine. When that happens you’ve reached a kind of point of arrival. Then you’re no longer strictly a motorcycle mechanic, you’re also a motorcycle scientist, and you’ve completely conquered the gumption trap of value rigidity. .. The road has come up into the pines again, but I see by the map that it won’t be for long.
… There are some resort billboards along the road and some kids beneath them, almost as if part of the advertisement, gathering pinecones. They wave and in doing so the littlest boy drops all his cones. “(Cont.Next)

Dixie Pass, ~9 miles Northeast of Prairie City, OR. Did you pass your ZMM readers awareness test here? … Here you should have seen for yourself that the Narrator has offered us a "scenery break" at the higher altitude, of yet another refreshing green tree, shady, and cool mountain pass.
….This of course, refreshes us and relieves our stress from the long Gumptionology. Just as the ZMM Narrator and Chris found a break in the travel, so also did Author Robert Pirsig as he was writing ZMM! These scenery breaks, can also help him refresh and relieves his stress from the long writing on boring Gumptionology!
….AND … Of course this is one of the major message of Gumptionology: Take quick breaks, no matter where your Quality track is taking you, especially after tired from long effort!!

The Below Repeats The Explanation From Photo Back At Dooley Mountain Summit.
….In this the above case (as well as implied several more times ahead), , the “Scenery Breaks” coincide with travel, from lower hot dry semi-desert, and climb the road up onto a higher mountain pass, and into the more enjoyable cool forests.
….Sometimes these “scenery breaks” are for gasoline or lunch in a town. The ZMM Reader will see that => Typically two and one half pages of Chautauqua between abrupt switch between The Chautauqua Discussion’s Main Topic and the Travel Narrative Scenery Breaks.

…SIDE NOTE: Here, As Is True For Practically Every Abrupt Switch Between The Chautauqua Discussion’s Main Topic And The Travel Narrative, We See An Especially Good Example Of => The "Metaphoric Bridge Connections" (MBC) Between The Chautauqua Lecture Passages And The Travel Narrative Descriptions!!
… Of course these “Connections”, are nearly always there (Between the Chautauqua Discussion’s Main Topic and the Travel Narrative), but this is an especially good example of this idea of "Metaphoric-Bridge-Connections"!
…. Here is the Same Link, that was given with Previous Photo of Unity, OR, where you can learn more about MBA, “Metaphoric Bridge Connection” Click Here. AFTER this page comes up, Do > Top > Edit > Find > … Metaphoric ..
*************************

(Photo = 112-1229c ...... ZMM Page = 281 ...... WayPt = 320w 5197ft)

Although I Did Find This Now Closed Roadhouse, I Did Not Find Any Signs for The Narrator’s “Resort”.
….A Little Boy Dropping Pine Cones Is An Example Of NON “Value Rigidity”.

….[“ There are some resort billboards along the road and some kids beneath them, almost as if part of the advertisement, gathering pinecones. They wave and in doing so the littlest boy drops all his cones. “ ]
.... .“ I keep wanting to go back to that analogy of fishing for facts. I can just see somebody asking with great frustration, "Yes, but which facts do you fish for? There’s got to be more to it than that."
.... But the answer is that if you know which facts you’re fishing for you’re no longer fishing. You’ve caught them. I’m trying to think of a specific example. . . . All kinds of examples from cycle maintenance could be given, but the most striking example of value rigidity I can think of is the old South Indian Monkey Trap, which depends on value rigidity for its effectiveness.“ (Cont.Next)

Eight and a half miles Northeast of Prairie City, OR.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1231c ...... ZMM Page = 281 ...... WayPt = 321w 5043ft)

Looking West Toward Prairie City, OR.
…A View of the Valley After Dixie Pass.
……In The Distance, The White Spot Is a Tourist Information Kiosk
………Which Is In the Commemorative Form of a Giant Oregon Trail Covered Wagon!

….“The trap consists of a hollowed-out coconut chained to a stake. The coconut has some rice inside which can be grabbed through a small hole. The hole is big enough so that the monkey’s hand can go in, but too small for his fist with rice in it to come out. The monkey reaches in and is suddenly trapped—by nothing more than his own value rigidity. He can’t revalue the rice. He cannot see that freedom without rice is more valuable than capture with it. The villagers are coming to get him and take him away. They’re coming closer . . . closer! . . . now! What general advice—not specific advice—but what general advice would you give the poor monkey in circumstances like this?“ (Cont.Next)

Five and one half miles Northeast of Prairie City, OR.
…In the /\ Above /\ Photo => The ZMM Route and Prairie City, continue West, in the direction of the medium distance, little round, brown, grass covered hill, with a topping of small trees sticking up.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1233c ...... ZMM Page = 281 ...... WayPt = 322w 4484ft)

Houses in the Distance Signal Our Arrival at the Next Town.

….[The poor monkey can’t get his hand out of the coconut because holds the rice in his hand. His fist is now too large to pull out of the coconut! ]
…l “ …. but what general advice would you give the poor monkey in circumstances like this? “ ]
….“ “Well, I think you might say exactly what I have been saying about value rigidity, with perhaps a little extra urgency. There is a fact this monkey should know: if he opens his hand he’s free. But how is he going to discover this fact? By removing the value rigidity that rates rice above freedom. How is he going to do that? Well, he should somehow try to slow down deliberately and go over ground that he has been over before and see if things he thought were important really were important and, well, stop yanking and just stare at the coconut for a while. Before long he should get a nibble from a little fact wondering if he is interested in it. He should try to understand this fact not so much in terms of his big problem as for its own sake. That problem may not be as big as he thinks it is. That fact may not be as small as he thinks it is either. That’s about all the general information you can give him. “ (Cont.Next)

Two miles East of Prairie City, OR.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1248c ...... ZMM Page = 282 ...... WayPt = 324w 3728ft)

What A Change This Town Scene Is From the Dry Desert!
….Here => Instead of a Mountain Pass, We Get Our Scenery Break at a Town.
….Chris Has Gumption => Immediately, Without Any Help, He Continues His Letter To His Mother

….“At Prairie City we’re out of the mountain forests again and into a dry-land town with a wide main street that looks right down through the center of the town and onto the prairie beyond it. We try one restaurant, but it’s closed. We go across the broad street and try another. The door’s open, we sit down and order malted milks. While waiting, I get the outline of the letter Chris was preparing for his mother and give it to him. To my surprise he works on it without many questions. I sit back in the booth and don’t disturb him. “ (Cont.Next)

Prairie City, OR.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1249c ...... ZMM Page = 282 ...... WayPt = 325w 3576ft)

The Narrator Now Applies His Gumptionology Theory (And His Own Personal Abilities) to His Problem With Chris.

….“I keep feeling that the facts I’m fishing for concerning Chris are right in front of me too, but that some value rigidity of my own blocks me from seeing it. At times we seem to move in parallel rather than in combination, then at odd moments collide.
.... His troubles at home always begin when he is imitating me, trying to command others the way I command him, particularly his younger brother. Naturally the others aren’t having any of his commands, and he can’t see their right not to, and that’s when all hell breaks loose.
.... He can’t seem to care whether he’s popular with anyone else. He just wants to be popular with me. Not healthy at all, everything considered. It’s about time for him to begin the long process of breaking away. “ [ Like the monkey letting go of the rice? ] (Cont.Next)

Prairie City, OR.

************************
(Photo = 112-1250c ...... ZMM Page = 282 ...... WayPt = 326w 3576ft)

The Narrator Now Applies His Gumptionology To His Problem Of Recurring Bad Dreams, and Being Trapped “Behind the Glass Door” And Unable To “Reach” Chris.

….[For Chris] “That break should be as easy as possible, but it should be made. It’s time to set him on his own feet. The sooner the better.
.... And now, having thought all that, I don’t believe it anymore. I don’t know what the trouble is. That dream that keeps recurring haunts me because I can’t escape its meaning: I’m forever on the other side of a glass door from him which I don’t open. He wants me to open it and before I always turned away. But now there’s a new figure who prevents me. Strange.
.... After a while Chris says he’s tired of writing. We get up, I pay at the counter and we leave.“ (Cont.Next)

Prairie City, OR.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1251c ...... ZMM Page = 283 ...... WayPt = 327w 3576ft)

On The Road, Straight Ahead, For the First Time, We See One of East Central Oregon’s Many Volcanic Cones!
….Gumption Traps Lecture Continues.

….“On the road now and talking about traps again.
.. The next one is important. It’s the internal gumption trap of ego. Ego isn’t entirely separate from value rigidity but one of the many causes of it.
.... If you have a high evaluation of yourself then your ability to recognize new facts is weakened. Your ego isolates you from the Quality reality. When the facts show that you’ve just goofed, you’re not as likely to admit it. When false information makes you look good, you’re likely to believe it. On any mechanical repair job ego comes in for rough treatment. You’re always being fooled, you’re always making mistakes, and a mechanic who has a big ego to defend is at a terrific disadvantage.“ (Cont.Next)

Entrance to John Day, OR.

**************************
(Photo = 112-1252c ...... ZMM Page = 283 ...... WayPt = 328w 3201ft)

After Town Of John Day, OR =>
….Typical View of East Central Oregon’s Level Lowland Valleys.
……Gumption Traps Lecture Continues.

….“If you know enough mechanics to think of them as a group, and your observations coincide with mine, I think you’ll agree that mechanics tend to be rather modest and quiet. There are exceptions, but generally if they’re not quiet and modest at first, the work seems to make them that way. And skeptical. Attentive, but skeptical, But not egoistic. There’s no way to bullshit your way into looking good on a mechanical repair job, except with someone who doesn’t know what you’re doing. .. . . . I was going to say that the machine doesn’t respond to your personality, but it does respond to your personality. It’s just that the personality that it responds to is your real personality, the one that genuinely feels and reasons and acts, rather than any false, blown-up personality images your ego may conjure up. These false images are deflated so rapidly and completely you’re bound to be very discouraged very soon if you’ve derived your gumption from ego rather than Quality. “ [The Narrator then covers the many] “internal gumption traps …. that block affective understanding, [together] called "value traps"“
..He covers:
….“Ego“,
….“Anxiety“,
….“Boredom“, and
….“Impatience.“

Five miles West of Mount Vernon, OR.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1258c ...... ZMM Page = 283 ...... WayPt = 331w 2803ft)

In This Case the Next Town Is Signaled By a Grove of Giant Trees!

….“We’re pulling into Dayville and my rear end feels like it’s turned to concrete. .. Well, that about does it for value traps. There’s a whole lot more of them, of course. I’ve really only just touched on the subject to show what’s there. Almost any mechanic could fill you in for hours on value traps he’s discovered that I don’t know anything about. You’re bound to discover plenty of them for yourself on almost every job. Perhaps the best single thing to learn is to recognize a value trap when you’re in it and work on that before you continue on the machine.“ (Cont.Next)

Entrance to Dayville, OR.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1259c ...... ZMM Page = 287 ...... WayPt = 332w 2412ft)

And Here Are the Trees!!

….“Dayville has huge shade trees by the filling station where we wait for the attendant to appear. None does, and we, being stiff and uneager to get back on the cycle, do leg exercises under the shade of the trees. Big trees that almost completely cover the road. Odd, in this desertlike country.“ (Cont.Next)

Giant Trees, Business district, Dayville, OR.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1263 ...... ZMM Page = 287 ...... WayPt = 333w 2478ft)

This Is The Modern Incarnation Of The Narrator’s Old Gas Station.
….The Site Of The Narrator’s Second Gas Station Is The Vacant Lot Right.

….“The attendant still doesn’t show, but his competitor at the filling station across the narrow intersection is watching this, and soon comes over to fill the tank. "I don’t know where John is," he says. .. When John appears, he thanks the other attendant and says proudly, "We always help each other out like this."“ (Cont.Next)

Business district, Dayville, OR. This is the location of the two 1968 Dayville gas stations. The one on the left is still there, but expanded into a grocery store. The one on the right was removed and the area converted to a city park.

*************************
(Photo = 112-1271 ...... ZMM Page = 287 ...... WayPt = 338w 2385ft)