tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18221078940614700662024-03-13T06:57:36.700-05:00AdventuriaTravels of Radigan NeuhalfenRadigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.comBlogger269125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-18109812522282458892010-10-22T12:38:00.000-05:002011-02-10T22:39:14.627-06:00Mongolia, UlaanbaatarBeen sitting in my bathtub. It's nice to own a bathtub, and to sit in it.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-72424811446137968962010-10-17T04:50:00.000-05:002010-11-18T07:05:27.642-06:00Canada, British Columbia, VancouverChecking in for the flight, the Canadian airline rep for Air China looked inside my passport and asked where I was going.<br />
<br />
"Mongolia."<br />
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She flipped a couple pages of my passport and asked: "Where is your visa?"<br />
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"U.S. citizens don't need Mongolian visas." At least, they didn't last year. I hope that hasn't changed. Maybe should've checked on that.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-79735263010682322702010-10-17T04:00:00.000-05:002010-11-18T06:47:23.967-06:00Canada, British Columbia, VancouverPassed through downtown Vancouver on a Saturday night: the city is populated with nothing but stylish twenty-something-year-olds. Some French speakers.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-7139846865183562022010-10-16T20:42:00.000-05:002010-11-18T06:44:18.570-06:00U.S.A., WashingtonTrain is really the most comfortable way to travel. It's basically a moving building.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-50328381702075958752010-10-09T09:52:00.000-05:002010-10-09T09:52:39.529-05:00U.S.A., Oregon, SherwoodBack to Mongolia next week.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-1572723762169453552010-05-26T15:16:00.001-05:002011-06-26T04:52:03.826-05:00U.S.A., Oregon, Lake OswegoTalked to my brother on the phone this morning. He said there's been lots of wind in Dakota. He was driving the garbage truck back from the landfill the other day when suddenly he got passed... by a plastic bag. So of course he wasn't going to let that happen, so he stepped down on it, and this is a garbage truck mind you, so it was howling along. Couldn't catch that plastic bag. Realized that the plastic bag was somehow riding air off of the garbage truck, and it just floated along, out in front of the truck. Never did catch the bag. Took a tight corner and the bag sailed off across a field.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-47250817956452523402010-02-22T05:35:00.000-06:002010-04-06T12:34:23.322-05:00U.S.A., North DakotaNothing moves about in the North Dakota winter night. It is as death.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-66385520041192135642009-11-29T17:30:00.000-06:002009-12-29T17:55:29.407-06:00U.S.A., Oregon, Lake OswegoLast week, discovered that Linus Pauling is buried in Lake Oswego. Don't usually make pilgrimages to dead people, but since he's right here in Lake Oswego and it is Linus Pauling, we drove over to the cemetery. Searched the whole cemetery--naturally--until we found him right next to where we parked the Jeep.<br />
<br />
The website for the Oswego Pioneer Cemetery declines to mention that Pauling was awarded two Nobel Prizes, one in chemistry and one for peace advocacy. The website does list every single American war veteran buried in the cemetery.<br />
<br />
Pauling advocated against nuclear arms and against war in any form at a time when other Americans knew heart and soul that their ultimate purpose on earth was to mass-murder Russians. The headline in <i>Life</i> magazine reporting his 1962 Nobel Peace Prize declaimed: "A Weird Insult from Norway."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kyPhEiYq2tM/Sx3A8yRBUzI/AAAAAAAACsM/YpibnkjIfiE/s1600-h/2009+November+29+USA+Oregon+Lake+Oswego+Oswego+Pioneer+Cemetery+Linus+Pauling+grave+10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" er="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kyPhEiYq2tM/Sx3A8yRBUzI/AAAAAAAACsM/YpibnkjIfiE/s400/2009+November+29+USA+Oregon+Lake+Oswego+Oswego+Pioneer+Cemetery+Linus+Pauling+grave+10.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kyPhEiYq2tM/Sx3BJ3SrmXI/AAAAAAAACsU/czGSXRMse1s/s1600-h/2009+November+29+USA+Oregon+Lake+Oswego+Oswego+Pioneer+Cemetery+Linus+Pauling+grave+20.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" er="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kyPhEiYq2tM/Sx3BJ3SrmXI/AAAAAAAACsU/czGSXRMse1s/s400/2009+November+29+USA+Oregon+Lake+Oswego+Oswego+Pioneer+Cemetery+Linus+Pauling+grave+20.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kyPhEiYq2tM/Sx3BQdtKpBI/AAAAAAAACsc/hxfy9yTFZyM/s1600-h/2009+November+29+USA+Oregon+Lake+Oswego+Oswego+Pioneer+Cemetery+Linus+Pauling+grave+30+from+his+marker+looking+down+the+hill.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" er="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kyPhEiYq2tM/Sx3BQdtKpBI/AAAAAAAACsc/hxfy9yTFZyM/s400/2009+November+29+USA+Oregon+Lake+Oswego+Oswego+Pioneer+Cemetery+Linus+Pauling+grave+30+from+his+marker+looking+down+the+hill.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">looking down the hill from Pauling's marker</div>Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-91003818296708629352009-10-31T05:25:00.000-05:002010-10-09T09:54:21.743-05:00U.S.A., Oregon, Lake OswegoI spent my final week in Ulaanbaatar undergoing a tax audit. It turned out all right in the end (the tax auditor seemed to go easier on me after I explained that I was not a businessman but a writer, and she asked me what my book was about and I answered "philosophy" and everyone in the room laughed), but I had to spend three days sitting in the tax department, running around the city gathering supporting documentation for events that took place three to four years ago, being suspected of hiding income "like a Mongolian," being threatened with many hundreds of dollars' worth of fines, and worrying that the situation would not be resolved before my outbound flight and that I would not be allowed to leave the country. I told this to my brother in North Dakota over the telephone, and he said, "That's why I like talking to you; you make my troubles seem so small: 'Gee, it was cold last night and I forgot to plug my truck in, so I had to crank it for ten minutes this morning before it would start. Oh well, at least I didn't have to go through a <i>tax audit</i> in <i>Outer Mongolia</i>.'"Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-64603110918734780022009-10-14T10:23:00.000-05:002009-11-08T12:47:27.752-06:00Mongolia, UlaanbaatarLying in bed, watching the mechanical humidifier.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-611271968778535482009-08-14T22:52:00.000-05:002009-09-05T08:44:15.467-05:00U.S.A., North DakotaThunderstorm blowing in tonight. The passion comes blowing with it, but nothing to expend it on. Should drive somewhere directionless, or write.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-48596342613478890152009-08-05T15:53:00.000-05:002009-09-06T07:51:55.749-05:00U.S.A., Oregon, Lake OswegoI'm in Portland. There's so much stuff here: trees, hills, people. <br />
<br />
I am a <a href="http://radiganneuhalfen.blogspot.com/2009/09/songs-entitled-north-dakota.html">plainsman</a>.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-11486755845721075782009-07-28T12:20:00.002-05:002009-12-13T20:06:15.299-06:00U.S.A., North DakotaDrove a tractor around in circles on Sunday, raking mowed hay into winrows in the hayfield.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-4275312365596878602009-07-08T21:28:00.000-05:002009-07-09T23:11:34.082-05:00U.S.A., North DakotaNice night out here, in nowhere.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-21416391541928820282009-06-27T17:00:00.001-05:002009-07-03T22:42:36.193-05:00Canada, Saskatchewan, Moose JawMoose Jaw is famous around the world because it is named “Moose Jaw.”Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-25049878806929253872009-06-18T21:46:00.001-05:002009-07-03T21:29:31.080-05:00U.S.A., North DakotaIn the past two weeks, I've been at the Mississippi River in Minnesota and in the Rocky Mountains in Montana, and now I'm back in between. In North Dakota.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-2663974611684101802009-06-16T10:00:00.000-05:002009-07-03T21:26:02.537-05:00U.S.A., MontanaDriving in Montana, just east of nowhere: hit the “scan” button on the radio, and the radio just scans and scans and scans.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-2645966422368808352009-05-21T02:11:00.000-05:002009-07-03T18:34:11.066-05:00U.S.A., North DakotaI've been through Regina. I might have gotten a speeding ticket in Regina.<br /><br />Canada is mildly different from here, but at least it is different.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-33009394907332972492009-05-20T02:07:00.001-05:002010-10-16T09:36:29.852-05:00U.S.A., North DakotaLast weekend, my uncle J and I set a camper up on the hill at the ranch at which one can now enjoy a drink and listen to the coyotes and watch the sun set over all of North Dakota. It overlooks lots and lots of emptiness. The plains. River trees. Big sunsets.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-56969762105693854762009-05-17T21:24:00.000-05:002009-07-03T18:27:35.366-05:00U.S.A., North DakotaI spent today fixing fence and watching the sky.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-23728454701953760622009-05-12T23:00:00.000-05:002009-07-03T18:21:53.307-05:00U.S.A., North DakotaIt smells like spring in North Dakota. Wildflowers.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-13064855181810129872009-05-02T18:03:00.000-05:002009-07-03T18:09:35.682-05:00U.S.A., North DakotaWorked cattle with Uncle J and Uncle David. Moved cattle to summer pasture.<br /><br />Hauling a calf in the back of J's Chevrolet Blazer, the calf pissed. J said, "We'll just get a bucket of soapy water and scrub it out. Or do the usual: roll the windows down for the rest of the afternoon to let it dry out and then forget it forever."<br /><br />Driving through the pasture, saw the windmill lying on its side. "Last spring, the wind blew the windmill over," J said.<br /><br />The wind blew the windmill over.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-26398882163786285002009-04-18T01:07:00.000-05:002009-07-03T16:25:10.623-05:00U.S.A., North DakotaThe whole state is about flooding away.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-31053296422788361182009-04-10T10:00:00.002-05:002009-07-03T20:35:36.196-05:00U.S.A., North Dakota<div align="center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kyPhEiYq2tM/Sk6wh7hpQJI/AAAAAAAACGE/x-8oUNBxjU8/s1600-h/2009+April+10+USA+North+Dakota+Minot+Scandinavian+Heritage+Center+troll+Radigan+Neuhalfen+Adventuria.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354411103951077522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kyPhEiYq2tM/Sk6wh7hpQJI/AAAAAAAACGE/x-8oUNBxjU8/s400/2009+April+10+USA+North+Dakota+Minot+Scandinavian+Heritage+Center+troll+Radigan+Neuhalfen+Adventuria.JPG" border="0" /></a>Scandinavian Heritage Center<br />Radigan Neuhalfen</div>Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822107894061470066.post-40658694784884293112009-04-07T21:00:00.000-05:002009-07-03T13:33:57.046-05:00U.S.A., North DakotaSaw the twilit sky to the west. Drove around a bit longer to remind myself of the turning of the planet.Radigan Neuhalfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684605420489488074noreply@blogger.com0