Tunnels, Tunnels....and more Tunnels!

Trip Start Aug 09, 2008
Trip End Oct 08, 2008

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Flag of Norway  , South Coast,
Sunday, August 24, 2008

A discussion about form...and underlying form.
I could start this whole discussion explaining the differences but Robert Pirsig did it quite well (or so it seems) in his book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. If you haven't read it and have no intent in reading it then I can't help you. If you have read it, then some of what I will be saying might make sense. If you are intent on reading it then what I might say might make sense when you do read it.
All that to say that my expedition is more about underlying form than about form. That's why it's been so confusing to me. I was trying to see my expedition in the classic sense of form. Since the author of that book used a motorcycle to explain the relationship, or maybe even lack of one between these opposites, if that would even be true either, then I will use travelling and/or sightseeing in my example.
When you travel to visit various cities you do that to take in the sights. This is what most people do. You go to Berlin to see the Wall that divided   East and West Berlin for all those years. That would be talking about form. The wall itself is the form. Since my expedition is about underlying form, the intent or purpose of the visit to the Berlin Wall isn't to see the wall, specifically, though that can also be part of it,   but to understand the purpose of the wall. Now that would be the underlying form. Even though most people visiting the wall read about its history and "why" it was erected, they still do not really care about the underlying form because they are still there mainly for the form.
When I was in Oslo and went to the Norsk Museum I visited one of the buildings that had various displays of individuals, (furnishings, clothing, personal items) who lived in that building over the years. They also had storyboards about the lives of these various individuals. The items on display in the various rooms are the form and the stories about who the people were and how they lived with these items would be the underlying form.
Now this is simplifying things considerably. But then, if I explained it in too much detail then I wouldn't have a book to write...now would I?
Since everything happens for a reason, then my reading this book at this time is allowing me to see the purpose for this expedition at this time. It is slowly being revealed to me. I'm quite sure that what I just wrote makes no sense what so ever to pretty well all of you. That doesn't matter. As I would say, "Look at the pretty pictures and ignore the mad writings of this nut case."
This is my online diary and it's my notes for when I write my book. It makes sense to me just because I see the bigger picture. I see the iceberg above and  below the water line (and there's way more iceberg below the surface).
Now, a discussion about tunnels.
My ride today south through Norway was stupendous. I'd use the word awesome but I use that word way more than I should. I must have driven through a hundred tunnels from a few hundred metres in length to a few kilometres long. On a motorcycle you almost have a 360 degree view of the tunnel. That's the reason for the weird sensation. Concrete whizzing  by throughout your field of vision at 100 km/hr. Very disorienting.
A few times I came out of the tunnel onto a bridge high above the water. Now that was breathtaking. It was also a little scary as you ride from the darkness into bright sunshine. It takes a few seconds for your eyes to adjust. There were very few clouds all day long.
It was also a cool day riding and I had to put an extra layer of clothing on, and I thought I was heading south. There was also a lot of construction. Nothing that delayed my travels just that I noticed that they were "modernizing" their highways in a lot of places. Too bad. This modernizing gets rid of the fun twisty and turning roads.
And then all good things must come to an end. I had found the address for a hostel in town. I inputted the address into my GPS and I ended up a few kilometres out of town. It was a farm house. Back to town and plan B. I found a hotel at over $200 a night. I do have a great view of the harbour and as I write this, of the setting sun. I have a 4th floor balcony.
I've walked around town. This is the first town in 2 weeks where I could not get lost without a map. The streets are parallel and perpendicular to each other. You shouldn't get lost when you are following a grid and there's water on 2 of the sides. I've purchased my ferry ticket back to Denmark. I saw 2 wedding parties. In one the bride and groom arrived by motorboat. Not too sure about that. In the other the bride and groom were in a 1920's car.
To me, this is one of my better entries. To most of you it's probably.....BORING!
Time to read some more. I'm itching to find out how Phaedrus ended up in an insane asylum. They do that to geniuses for some reason when they start questioning the status quo. I did skip to the back of the book because I was curious about the author. The weird "coincidence" is that the author's final entry/comment on the last page of this edition of the book (in the afterword) was in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1984. Uh! That's where I was when I decided to start reading the book.
Think It! Feel It! Live It!
Love to all! Thanks Sasha for your comments. I really appreciate them.
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