Is That Like Butcher Hollow?

One of the most perfect films ever made, and the autobiographical song which preceeded it, is "Coal Miner's Daughter". For a foreigner like myself, the arched Kentuckian vowels and consonants heard in both are endlessly fascinating. My favourite is how "hollow" is pronounced holler by Loretta Lynn and all like her.

So it was with this mindset that I approach the news that President George W. and Mrs. Laura Bush have purchased a new Dallas residence, ahead of their forthcoming move to Texas in January.

You know the neighbourhood's name? Preston Hollow. Magic.

First lady Laura Bush’s office declined to specify where the house is, but it appears likely the couple will live on Daria Place, a cul-de-sac in the upscale neighborhood.

(Wait, Daria Place? Corner of Quinn and Morgendorfer, no doubt)

It's very pretty, in a suburban sprawl chocolate box kind of way. The Bushes remain faithful to their unpretentiousness, so at odds with the stately affectations of the Obamas with their seignorial Tony Rezko pad in Hyde Park.

Not that I'm suggesting this home could double as Granny Clampett's homestead, you understand. Back in September, gossip queen Cindy Adams broke the story about the Preston Hollow purchase, and she described it thusly:

Described as "a big house on five acres," Adams also said that this house would have "horse stables, lake views, mountain views, golf club views".

That certainly doesn't sound unpretentious, but my point is that it looks it.

Come on, seriously. Even his dad has a better place than this in Houston. Can't Junior, to use Oliver Stone's ubiquitous nickname in "W" for him, have gotten something more, you know, upscale?



All I'm saying is even Loretta Lynn, that girl who got shoes once a year from her daddy over in Butcher Hollow, knows how to retire in style.

Now that's a home for an ex-President. They could call it the "Little White House".