Country Living Barefoot Summers

Faith Andrews Bedford, a favorite with Country Living's readers, captures the magic of summer, childhood, and home in a moving collection of essays. For years, the readers of Country Living have adored Faith Andrews Bedford's evocative stories, featured in her beloved bi-monthly column, "Kids in the Country." This enchanting collection invites everyone to join Bedford as she movingly recaptures the modest triumphs of children, the importance of family traditions, and the simple pleasures of country life. In "Sister Dresses," Faith's mother finds three special Easter outfits "all exactly the same," delighting her daughters. "Time & a Bottle" tells of Faith's girlhood walks along the beach, where she hoped that the sea glass she collected "had come from a perfume bottle thrown into the water a century ago by an elegant lady in France." Every one of these essays explores the beauty in the ordinary and the meaning in the everyday.

"An idyllic summer at the cottage in the 1950s, as revealed through the eyes of a boy on the cusp of adolescence: a first crush, the joy of nature, and the struggle to understand grown-ups. To ten-year-old Bruce, the summer of 1954 seemed, at first, like any other in Ontario's cottage country: floating in the rowboat, eating peach pie, watching the seagulls, frogs and herons and catching crayfish. But just when he thinks that life is perfect, everything starts to change, and over the summer both the harshness of the adult world and the patterns of the natural world reveal themselves. By the time the weather turns he will be a different child and will have chosen his own path to understanding the wilderness that waits behind the family cottage. Funny, subtle and true, Barefoot at the Lake transports us to a long, hot, poignant summer."--Jacket.

Provides an overview of life in the United States since 1970, discussing family, social attitudes, religion, education, science, technology, entertainment, crime, labor, military, transportation, public health, and other related topics.

Changing International affairs and the forces of technological innovation shaped the lives of Americans in the last decades of the 20th century. While the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union gave rise to hopes of peaceful international relations, the Gulf War and the attacks of September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center in New York shattered these aspirations. In the social sphere, cell phones, CDs, and the Internet completely transformed the ways by which people communicated and conveyed information. The election of an African-American man to the presidency marked the successful continuation of the struggle for equal civil rights, bolstering America's reputation as a radically changing place in this contemporary period.

The first book in the Chapel Springs Romance series by bestselling author Denise Hunter! “A tender story of faith cast adrift and lives brought together by currents that can only be God-sent. Barefoot Summer is a satisfying tale of hope, healing, and a love that’s meant to be. Sail away with Denise Hunter’s well-drawn characters on a journey that is at once romantic and compelling.” —Lisa Wingate, national bestselling author of Before We Were Yours Madison’s heart has been closed for years. But one summer can change everything. In the years since her twin brother’s drowning, Madison McKinley has struggled to put it behind her. Despite the support of her close-knit family and her gratifying job as a veterinarian in their riverside town, the loss still haunts her. To find closure, Madison sets out to fulfill her brother’s dream of winning the town’s annual regatta. But first she has to learn to sail, and fast. Beckett O’Reilly knows Madison is out of his league, but someone neglected to tell his heart. Now she needs his help—and he’ll give it, because he owes her far more than she’ll ever know. Madison will do anything—even work with the infamous Beckett O’Reilly—to reach her goal. And as much as she’d like to deny it, the chemistry between them is electrifying. As summer wanes, her feelings for him grow and a fledgling faith takes root in her heart. But Beckett harbors a secret that will test the limits of their new love. Can their romance survive summer’s challenges? And will achieving her brother’s dream give Madison the peace she desperately seeks? “Hold-your-breath romance, heartache, and laugh-out-loud moments. It’s more than a good read. It’s a delight.” —Lisa T. Bergren, bestselling, award-winning author