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Rudi Kiefer: 49th Parallel sets an imaginary border between world cultures
Rudi Kiefer
This year, a little-noticed 200th anniversary is at hand. In the small town of Lynden, Washington, a drive northward on Bender Road shows open farmland, grassy plains, one-story ranch homes and commercial yards filled with farm machinery. Suddenly, the highway takes an unusual turn. It now heads east, parallel to another two-lane road that also carries traffic in both directions. Between them, the narrow eight-foot median is occupied by power poles and some mailboxes. Long rows of blueberry bushes on both sides show one of the area’s best products. This strange twin-road location, looking almost identical on both sides, is an international border.