As the spring comes to a close and the humidity of summer begins, I am less than a week from departing for Italy to continue production on Campania Infelix (unhappy country). Be sure to join the Unhappy Country documentary facebook page to get news on the project throughout the summer.

I have several updates to share before I leave, so I’ll just get right to it.

A month or so ago I drove down to Crawford, Texas to do a followup on the town after years of tourism and media frenzy surrounding President George W. Bush’s ranch. If you’ll remember, there were the Cindy Sheehan protests, which created the media circus in the first place. Bush was also known to invite world leaders to actually hold meetings in Crawford. The President’s presence in Crawford brought activists and media as well as tourists bringing money and numbers to this small country town.

New York Times reporter James McKinley was interested in what this town is up to after eight years of Bush. Apparently not much. Of the five memorabilia shops operating, only one remains. Crawford only has one main street…and several of the stores are no longer in business. One of the stores, The Yellow Rose, still houses all the memorabilia, only to see it collect dust.

“Yet long gone are the days when this town of 750 people played host to foreign heads of state or teemed with journalists, protesters and White House officials.

And as Mr. Bush has settled into a quiet retirement in Dallas, appearing rarely and seldom speaking about politics, so too has this town near which he spent his vacations in office.

He still comes to his 1,400-acre ranch on holidays and on some weekends, but he does not arrive with the thwap-thwap-thwap of helicopters anymore. He slips quietly through town in a black sport utility vehicle and leaves just as quietly, townspeople say. ”

What remains are the local people…who for the most part are obviously Bush supporters. There is the local coffee shop restaurant, and a new bank, and the sole remaining memorabilia store. Crawford, Texas seems to have returned to what it was…another small Texas country town.

The Times ran a cool little slide show of Crawford, Texas with the story and a nice clip in the paper.