The ZMM Narrator emphasizes the beauty of the wild flowers, "In The Mountain High Country in Chapter 11. Here is what he said : ...."Wildflowers, everywhere! These and grasses and mosses and lichens are all that can live here, now. We’ve reached the high country, above the timberline." ..... " and then below this into week-old grass and then small wildflowers, the tiny pink and blue and yellow and white ones which seem to pop out, sun-brilliant, from black shadows. Everywhere it’s like this! Little pins of colored light shoot forth to me from a background of somber dark green and black. "

Because of this emphasis, I decided to take a photograph of every flower (or flowering weed) I saw the entire ZMM Route!

The ZMM Narrator emphasizes Redwing Blackbirds much in Chapter 1. Here is what he said.:.... "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. …. (three pages later) …. "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."

Since the ZMM emphasized them so much, I decided I would photograph every RWBB that I could get within my camera sights. I was surprised to find RWBBs practically the whole ZMM Route! The natural range of RWBBs must be all the northern USA, from Virginia to California!

So here are my flower and Red Winged Blackbird photos along ZMM Route. If you can help me with the names of any of flowers or have other interesting information, please contribute what you can: Names of Flowers, Stories, Photos, etc. Captions for all photos in this album will be completed as soon as possible.

On my trip in the summer of 2006, I showed the former home of John and Sylvia Sutherland (seen in these photos) to Anthony McWatt and MOQ film crew. In ZMM (page 143), the Narrator quotes John Sutherland's disparaging comment about their home and life back in Minneapolis. So here are 18 photos of what is here at the address quoted. Despite John's statement, this looks to us like a wonderful home along a quiet shady street, in a perfectly fine neighborhood! We found it empty and for rent, so we fully used the chance to experience and absorb this fantastic, multicolored Victorian masterpiece! Although this style of architecture is not normally my “type”, it was still fun to be here and take photos in the bright sun. In these views you will see Anthony McWatt, Rebecca Temmer, and Gavin Gee Cough. The MOQ video production team's photographer, David Buchanan, by happenstance is missing from my photos taken at this home. From my two trips to Minneapolis, I have many other photos and will post these in this album ASAP. Notice: If you are the person now living in this home please contact me. Anyone having (or needing) more information, please contact me. I want to hear from you.

Once I got my camera out to photograph the USCA Science Building, I decided to keep going at The Etherredge Center & Ruth Patrick Science Education Center. I did not photograph everything because the Ruth Patrick Center's own WebSite has even more photos!