Tennessee, Tennessee.

We spent yesterday afternoon and evening with my cousin Katie and her friends in Clarksville KY, nearby the Fort Campbell army base. Katie's shipping off to Afghanistan soon, but the day wasn't bogged down with anxiety or sadness, as you might expect. Instead we talked and laughed about sex and relationships, with Sarah and I sharing our additional 10 years of experience, for whatever that's worth. Katie seems pretty prepared and well aware of what she's signed up for, though I'm sure she will have plenty of stories to tell when she gets back, hopefully none too tragic.

The rest of Tennessee was geographically a less beautiful version of Kentucky, with more cows than horses, aside from a short stretch in the south before the border with Alabama. Nashville was the biggest city we've hit since Pittsburgh, and would probably compare with Boston in size if you took away all of Boston's suburbs. But it's really rather dull, not our scene at least. Many of the houses there are just absurdly pompous, and the discrepancy between rich and poor is just sick. Suffice it to say, I didn't like Tennessee, though I'm sure the Smokey's would have given me a different impression.