December 8, 2008. Bethesda, Md. Jackson.

Jackson is a very nice city. It is a better and more livable city than I expected. I am not sure what I was expecting, but Mississippi has had a bad press for so long that I was surprised at the charm of the city. It has a population of about 300,000 people within the city with a total of 500,000 in the surrounding area. The roads are good, with big highways going right through the city both north and south and east and west, so it is easy to get around. In fact it takes about fifteen minutes to get anywhere in Jackson, which is a nice change from Washington where you can not get anywhere in fifteen minutes. The people are very friendly and polite and enthusiastic about your visit to Jackson. Now I am sure most people do not really feel overly friendly, but at least they seem friendly and polite. Churches are everywhere, in fact I asked Christina if she had ever met anyone who did not attend church and she said no. The second question I was asked was where we attended church, and I am told that this is normal.

From my limited experience of one week in Jackson, most people in Jackson are from Mississippi and they are surprised that Andrew and Christina have moved there. Without the introductions from Nelson and Katie, the brother and sister-in-law of Christina, I suspect that making friends would make for slow going, but because of them and because of the Home School affiliation, Andrew and Christina have already made several very nice friends in Jackson. I suspect the population will grow as the city has everything needed to attract new workers. Mississippi has gotten almost no credit for their huge efforts to resolve the devastation from Katrina, in fact they are a bit bitter about the lack of any appreciation. The Mississippi Coast took the direct hit from Katrina with the first two streets full of houses and big buildings totally gone. But everyone and everything was looked after very quickly, with no fuss or muss. The press paid no attention. My own opinion is that the reputation from the Civil Rights era has never been altered. The truth is that Jackson is a very pleasant city...just do not tell anyone that you do not go to church!!