"along the coast from Blaine to Seattle"

"The man with the tweed cap was silent.  Met by the impasse of Mary's nationality, he sat absorbed in his own thoughts.  Finally he said, So you're not Canadian what are you?  Mary had been looking in the mirror behind the bar and so did not catch this last question.  He repeated it.  She answered that she was an American, but her father was a Norwegian.  He died several years ago.  A Norwegen!  Hah.  Me, I'm Swedish.  Norweganser no good!  Oh? she said, My father was nice.  Well, that's just because he was your father, he replied, his jaw set firm.  That don't make Norwegians good.  Are you married? he asked.  Yes I am, to the man sitting next to me.  And so that went, the Swede asked more questions and was generally skeptical of the couple's local residence.  To him they remained Canadian.  This word, along the coast from Blaine to Seattle, is commonly used to mean 'odd ball.'"

-- Edward Dorn, By The Sound