WESTSIDE — June is halfway gone and soon half the year will be over. It’s hard to believe 2011 is flying by so fast. There’s only about a week of spring left, so enjoy it while you can. June is usually a mellow kind of month with the air soft and sweet-scented and only promising to be hot. But last week we had an early taste of summer with a few days of record-breaking heat. We’re already watering the garden, so it may be one of those years when it gets too hot too fast.

Jim’s involved in building a new house out on Dow Road and we’ve been getting up at 3:30 or 4 a.m. so he can get to the job site shortly after 5 and get some work done before it gets too hot. I’m not really much of an early bird and I’ve been having trouble making myself turn in early enough to get a good night’s rest. I look forward to the weekend when we can sleep in a little longer, but even then Jim’s internal clock prompts him to arise pretty early.

We lost a tall persimmon tree in the high winds a few weeks ago and a large walnut tree went over last month. Jim spent the last full week of May playing lumberjack, cutting firewood and a few saw logs for our brother-in-law. I burned several of the smaller limbs and sister Nancy and her husband shredded quite a few for mulch. We’ll really missthe old walnut as it helped shade the south side of the house and provided a home for some of the birds and squirrels.

We have three bird feeders in the back yard and one of our resident squirrels has learned how to raid the one in the young pecan tree. After a few feedings the rope frayed and the feeder fell to the ground. Jim replaced the rope with a chain and rehung it but already Mr. Squirrel has been back. We enjoy watching the colorful cardinals feeding, the soft gray doves and the occasional bright indigo bunting or wild canary. And one day Nancy called me to the window to see a little masked bandit, a raccoon, foraging under the feeder.

There’s always much to be done in the garden this time of year. Jim’s been picking plenty of broccoli and cauliflower and a good supply of radishes and green onions. Last week he brought in a small head of cabbage and Saturday he picked a dishpan-full of green beans. We bought some new potatoes and beets at the farmers’ market and I cooked a big pot of green beans and onions with some of the potatoes. We added a few Polish sausages and it was a delicious supper.

We awoke early Sunday morning to the sound of rain on the roof. Mark Twain once wrote that he dearly loved the sound ofrain on a metal roof. Anyone who has listened to a June shower on the metal roof of a country house will probably agree that it’s a very pleasant sound, a sound that can lull you to sleep. When Twain had to replace the roof on his house, he had one small section reroofed with tin. But he swore that from then on it would pour on the rest of the roof but it never rained on that part of his house!

I’ve joined friends for lunch at the senior center a few times in recent weeks.They serve a delicious meal at a reasonable price and there’s always a sociable crowd. Then Sunday we were invited to a fish fry by friends who live between Sulphur Springs and Noel. We pulled up in the shade of the big trees around the nearby lake and joined the crowd. The highlight of the meal was tasty chunks of catfish, crispy on the outside and tender inside. A nice variety of side dishes included potato salad, pinto beans and a yummy pasta salad dotted with baby shrimp and black olives.

Don’t forget dear old dad on Father’s Day next Sunday. The first Father’s Day was started by Mrs. John Dodd, whose father, William Jackson Smart, raised six children by himself after his wife died in childbirth. Mrs. Dodd proposed June 5, 1910, as a day to honor fathers and sought support from local pastors in Spokane, Wash. The pastors agreed. Later Congress officially changed the date to the third Sunday in June.

Susan Holland, who works for the Westside Eagle Observer, is a lifelong Benton County resident.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 06/15/2011