Losing the litter

We've had a terrific day. It started out grey and misty, threatening serious rain, as we approached Nashville at 6:30 (pre-rush hour), but while the day progressed and the terrain changed, so did the weather. The sunglasses through the afternoon were helpful. We've seen so much corn, emerald green, and lots of grain, not quite waving, but definitely golden. And, I'm always drawn to the rivers we cross when we travel. Today, the Cumberland in Nashville, the Ohio at Evanston Indiana, the Wabash between Indiana and Illinous, the Mississippi, and the Missouri, a couple of times since St Charles -- where we stopped in at the Bass Sportsmans' Warehouse (along the lines of an annual pilgrimage for the two of us). We're spending the night slightly north and east of Kansas City on I-435 and have Council Bluffs -- a bit of railroad history and Lewis and Clark -- in our sights for tomorrow.

So far my impressions are muddled. Having started out tired plays a part, I know, so I'm just letting the landscape flow by. The single thing that has struck me, however, may seem trivial. No roadside trash. As we approached Chattanooga yesterday, I realized I was missing something and after sleeping on what it might be, it turns out that's what it was. It seems losing the litter was almost as simple as leaving South Carolina and Georgia. Today seeing trash along the roadside has been rare and jarring. It's such a given in our day-to-day life in SC, saying something sad about what we think of ourselves.