Innholdsfortegnelse for June/July 2020 i Country

AS I WRITE MY LETTER for the June/July issue, it’s actually April (we’re always working ahead in magazine world). I’m typing away at home, where I’m sheltering in place with my family while our country tries to stop the spread of COVID-19 or, as my 6-year-old daughter refers to it, “the virus.” It’s peaceful here. I can hear chickadees singing outside my window. Last spring, a family of birds moved into a birdhouse on our deck. Their return is a reminder that in nature it’s business as usual, and someday it will be business as usual for us, too. Soon we’ll be able to venture out and explore America’s scenic wonders. In the meantime, we’ll travel together in the pages of Country. This issue will take you on a hike…

The prairie puts on quite a show in the spring at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, about 22 miles east of Des Moines, Iowa. Butterflies flash their colors while flitting among the vivid wildflowers and the lofty grasses of the prairie. Baby bison frolic on their gangly legs near their mamas. Critters call, and birds chatter and warble. The refuge is one of more than 100 Iowa sites in the Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area being preserved and restored to show off the land’s historical and cultural impact on early settlers. These living museums tell the story of how the native landscape influenced the evolution of agriculture in America. In Iowa, the sites tell tales of fields, farmland, Native American farming practices, pioneer log homes with wood-burning cookstoves,…

Eruptions of blooming mountain laurel within the forests and open spaces of West Virginia’s Allegheny Highlands usher in summer. Fields and forests ring with the sounds of returning birds, streams filling to their banks and the footsteps of hikers exploring the trails. In this recreation paradise, it’s easy for us to forget the people who made a way of life in these forests. So that we always remember, the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area was created to conserve and promote the cultural legacy of the highlands in 16 counties in West Virginia and two in Maryland. The story of the Appalachian Forest starts with the Native Americans who hunted here at least 12,000 years ago. It continues with German and Scotch-Irish settlers who in isolation developed forms of music, arts…

Before my great grandparents John and Grace Beal moved to a farm in the White Horse Mountain area in the 1940s, they lived in a little town named Berlin, Pennsylvania. A visit to Aunt Sadie Hostetler introduced the Beal family to a new way to make potatoes. Aunt Sadie sliced the potatoes very thin and quickly fried them in lard. She called them potato chips. The Beals had never had chips before, but they loved them! They couldn’t wait to get home and try to make more of this delicious and unique family recipe. At the beginning of the Great Depression in the early 1930s, the local coal mines closed and there was no work for John to support his family. The Beals thought that perhaps others would like potato…

1. PETITE PATIENCE A little boy’s first time fishing, when all that matters is digging for worms and waiting for the fish to bite. REBECCA BALLINGER Jefferson City, Tennessee 2. SPA DAY Big sister Samantha pampers little sister Grace with a foot bath and eye mask on a hot day in Ohio. RANDY SAUNDERS Gallipolis, Ohio 3. GOOD CATCH! Our grandkids were playing with a Frisbee disc when Windsor the dog decided to get in on the fun. JOLENE HIGBEE Knox, North Dakota 4. PLAYTIME AT GRANDMA’S There are two things that make grandma’s house special: bubble gum and bubbles. When I see the tedium starting, I ask if anyone wants to blow bubbles and all the little ones start hopping with joy. REBECCA KOMPPA Sebeka, Minnesota 5. IN THE…

Country is written by readers for readers. It’s easy to share your stories and photos. Simply visit country-magazine.com and click Share Your Story. Give us your take on the topics below, and you might get published in a future issue: Scenic Drives Do you love to spend an afternoon cruising a backcountry road that leads to gorgeous views and small-town charm? Tell us about your favorite scenic drives, and include photos. Please label your submission “Scenic Drives.” Outdoor Recreation Hiking, fishing, biking—what are the outdoor recreation activities you love? Share what your favorite pastimes are and where you do them. Be sure to include photos! Please label your submission “Outdoor Recreation.” Local Treats Every road trip includes a stop for refueling. What diners or mom and pop restaurants are on…

I LEARNED TO SWOO at an early age. As a kid, my father would send me out to call the cows home at feeding time. I’d cup my hands around my mouth and let out a loud swoo. Before long a cow would moo back, and then the trees would start rustling as the animals slowly followed each other back to the barn to feed. Years later, my husband and I still handle the joys and challenges of raising cattle. I had a restful day planned one Saturday when I received a call from the sheriff’s office that our 1,500-pound bull was out along the highway. We live a few miles from the pasture, so we quickly gathered some rope, fencing supplies and our patience before heading to the farm. The…

There’s no place in the United States quite like northern New Mexico, especially the part of the state that is now designated as the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area. Much of the area’s charm is due to the unique mix of cultures already living in the area with the people who settled here over hundreds of years. Distinctively southwestern, the heritage area provides one-of-a-kind experiences and centuries of history, along with the stunning natural beauty of a high desert and mountain environment. Visiting the Northern Rio Grande is like traveling overseas without having to endure a cramped economy airline seat or breaking out your passport. And, in some cases, you may even feel transported back in time a few hundred years. Stretching from Albuquerque to the Colorado border, the…

On a Charleston sidewalk, I caught my first glimpse of Gullah culture in the form of a sweetgrass basket. A centuries-old craft that originated in Sierra Leone, these intricate baskets are woven by people who use techniques passed down from generation to generation. The Gullah Geechee people are descendants of West African slaves who were brought to work on cotton and rice plantations. They live on the islands and in the Lowcountry along the coast of the southeastern United States, dotting a 400-mile strip from Pender County, North Carolina, to St. John’s County, Florida. This area is known as the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. While they have preserved much of their African heritage and shared it with the world, the Gullah of South Carolina are disappearing, casualties of progress…

Every Wednesday, feet-stomping, hand-clapping melodies of old-time music add a soundtrack to a summer’s evening in Elkins City Park. Here in this corner of the Allegheny Highlands, music is a way of life. You can imagine these musicians crowded together on a front porch, in a barn or at a park, pickin’ banjos or guitars until the early hours of the morning. They love music—anywhere, anytime. Old-time music endures in part because of the Augusta Heritage Center, which sponsors Pickin’ in the Park on Wednesdays and an annual festival where musicians learn to play mountain music. “It has always been a point of great pride in the Allegheny Highlands that this culture of music, food and dance be preserved and continued,” says Seth Young, executive director of the Augusta Heritage…

1. Share your photos and stories with us using the online form, country-magazine.com/submit. 2. Note which department you are submitting for, and whether the material has been published before. However, your item may be selected to run in any section of our magazine, or elsewhere. 3. We do not return submitted materials. Although we are unable to acknowledge receipt of a submission, we will let you know if it is published. 4. We accept high-resolution digital images. Digital images should be about 4x6 inches at a minimum resolution of 300 dots per inch, or about 1200x1800 pixels. Photos must be in focus and of good quality. Please send submissions only through our online form. 5. If we print your submission in the magazine, we will send you a complimentary copy…

Ruthann, my 11-year-old daughter, likes to have her hair set in curlers and decided she would let them set while looking for the needle. MICHAEL CATTERALL West Leechburg, Pennsylvania LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the photograph on the back cover of the April/May issue (above). MARY LOU STASIEK Harvard, Illinois TERRIFIC AND SHARP scenes in the April/May issue! Regarding “Storm Chaser,” on page 14, I would have quit haying! There were no lupines in Buffalo, New York, where I used to live. My first exposure to lupines was in the Navy when I was on Kodiak Island in Alaska. The photograph of lupines in Acadia National Park on page 34 (“Parks in Bloom”) was so sharp that I felt as if I were there. What a heartwarmer on the last page! Oh,…

June 6 NATIONAL TRAILS DAY Join fellow hikers, bikers, rowers, horseback riders and others for an adventure on the trails! Find local events where you can meet new friends and do your part to help maintain trails across America. americanhiking.org July 11 COON DOG DAY If you’re near Asheville, North Carolina, pop over to the town of Saluda for this free festival that features a parade, dog judging, a treeing contest, all day entertainment and more. romanticasheville.com JULY 20 LOOK! IN THE SKY! Grab a telescope because throughout most of the night Saturn will be at opposition to the sun and at its brightest point during the year. See if you can spot the rings. FAMILY GAME NIGHT Did you know that the Yellowstone Caldera was formed by a volcanic…

While the Gullah’s creative cooking techniques have existed for thousands of years and predated their ancestors’ arrival in the Americas, their methods are lauded as the heart of modern southern cuisine. Carolina chef and restaurateur Jenny Brule, author of two new southern cookbooks, says, “Gullah’s playful, inventive mashup of fresh, seasonal and colorful produce, grains and proteins are driving both home cooking and restaurants today.” Slaves made most of the meals in plantation households, using their expertise in rice cultivation as a foundation. One-pot stews were common. Drawing on African cooking techniques, common ingredients of peanuts, okra, rice, yams, peas, hot peppers, sesame seeds, sorghum and watermelon were brought across the sea to America by the Gullah’s enslaved ancestors. Fishers, hunters, foragers and farmers, the Gullah people pioneered farm-to-table methods,…

In each issue we hide a needle (black or white). If you find it, enter online at country-magazine.com by clicking the Contests link at the top of the page. We’ll draw winners from all the correct entries. Winners receive a one-year subscription to Country. In the April/May issue, we hid the needle on page 62. No purchase necessary to enter to win. Purchase will not improve your chances of winning. Sweepstakes is open to legal residents age 18 years or older of the U.S., its territories and possessions. Sweepstakes begins on May 13, 2020, and ends on July 7, 2020. For official rules, visit country-magazine.com. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Sweepstakes sponsored by RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC.…