President Bush is a New Englander by birth, born of privilege in the state of Connecticut, and educated at the exclusive northeastern universities, Yale and Harvard. But there is no mistaking the twang in his voice, and the gleam in his eye when he talks of Texas. He spent his childhood there, and returned as an adult to marry, build a business and enter politics. He said he feels privileged to spend his days in the White House. But every chance he gets he returns to a ranch at the end of a country road, on the edge of a one-stoplight town.
In a tiny, dusty town in central Texas, the President of the United States has found a home.
"I'm going to head on home. I've changed addresses, from Washington to Crawford," Mr. Bush told reporters. He refers to the White House as "the people's house." To George W. Bush, "home" is a plot of land on the outskirts of Crawford, population 705.
Freight trains rush through Crawford, past the one traffic light and the granary. The town sits like a speck of dust on a Texas map, a place where a tractor and a pick-up truck on a country road constitute a traffic jam.
There's a two block downtown with a barber shop, two gas stations and a few shops selling souvenirs. "Look around our town," Bill Sparkman said. He is the local barber, volunteer fireman and unofficial tour guide. "That right there used to be the grocery store. The little tin building used to be our city jail. The barber shop when I was a little boy was right there where city hall is at," he explained.
He moves a bit slowly in the heat, his head covered with a firefighter's cap against the sun.
He has lived in Crawford all his life, started barbering with his father 41 years ago and seems a bit bemused by his famous neighbor.
"I've got to tell you one day he was supposed to come down here in a motorcade from Waco and people were running around the streets looking for him. I said, 'hey, he flew over.' 'Nah, he didn't, he's coming in a motorcade', they said. And it got dark and everybody left. I tried to tell them and they wouldn't listen," Mr. Sparkman said.
The local economy is a bit better since the president moved to Crawford. A bank is under construction where the old feed store used to be and a few new shops have opened selling presidential t-shirts and Christmas ornaments with the words "Western White House" on the front.
There are still some boarded up buildings and the sidewalks seem to be crumbling in places. In many ways, Crawford seems unchanged.
"There is no plastic here. There are no neon lights. That is why I love it," Norma Nelson-Crow said. She grew up on a local farm. She now owns a gift shop with a replica of the president by the front door.
"What you see is what you get. And I think that attracted him to this area," she said. If you look closely, you see the president's face soften a bit when he returns to Crawford. There is a slight cowboy's bounce to his walk, and he looks like a man who is comfortable with his surroundings.
"This part of the state represents the independent-minded nature of Texans. It represents the hard-working Texans, people who have great values, faith and family," president Bush said.
"There is a lot that you gain from a small town that remains with you for the rest of your life. We were hard workers. We are hard workers here in this little farming community," Norma Nelson-Crow said.
But there is another side to small town life, says Norma Nelson Crow. "Not only the work ethic, but people caring for each other. I think we were all conditioned to take care of others before we would take care of ourselves," she said.
These are the traits the president mentions time and time again, and perhaps it is no surprise that he gravitates from time to time to a place where they seem to be in abundance. The key to Crawford, said Bill Sparkman, is the people.
"I like Crawford because I grew up here. It hasn't much changed. I like the people and everything like that. I think that is one reason the president lives around here," Mr. Sparkman said.
There is another draw that brings the president back. As you drive down the narrow road to the front gate of his Prairie Chapel Ranch, you see flat prairie. But beyond the house and the pastures lies a virtual nature reserve of water, woodland and wild animals