BENTON COUNTY — Summer officially arrived a week ago today and we’ve had the summer heat to prove it. The weatherman has forecast near-record temperatures this week and little relief in sight. We had a little rain last Thursday morning, but it’s been dry ever since; so we’ve been watering the tomatoes, peppers and strawberries and my flowers.

An old 1,001 Home Ideas magazine suggests summer is the time to relax and enjoy easy living outdoors, but this heat makes it more tempting to stay inside by the air conditioner. We ate burgers Sunday evening, but I cooked them on the broiler rather than on the outdoor grill.

One of the joys of summer is the abundance of fresh fruit available locally. Area orchards are reporting a good peach crop this year, and the farmers’ market has been featuring lovely blueberries and blackberries. I’ve bought both blueberries and blackberries and picked some of our own strawberries, and they’re all perfect toppings on my morning cereal. I bought some Arkansas grown peaches at the grocery store Saturday and have been enjoying them as a healthy snack.

Sister Nancy’s been picking blackberries to bake her husband a cobbler. Summer fruits are also delicious in jellies and preserves. A friend west of town made plum jelly from her neighbor’s crop and shared a jar with us. I wasgrateful for her generosity. It’s a wonderful spread for our breakfast toast or bagels. She and her husband also gave us a few cucumbers, onions and peppers. I boiled the peppers with a few I got at the farmers’ market, browned ground beef, cooked onions and rice and made tasty stuffed peppers for our Father’s Day dinner.

On Thursday, the 14th, I accompanied three of my fellow library commissioners and our library manager on a tour of nearby libraries. We drove to the Fayetteville and Rogers public libraries and picked up several good ideas from their library directors. After a welcome break for fish dinners at the Flying Fish restaurant, we visited the Bentonville Public Library and even got a tour of their well-organized employeework area.

The following Saturday, I returned to Crystal Bridges. This time I parked downtown near the Bentonville water park and walked through a small portion of Compton Gardens to the museum’s Art Trail. I hiked along it, stopping to admire the bronze sculptures, Paul Manship’s Group of Bears; Shore Lunch, another bear feasting on a salmon; and Stella, a hefty 560 pound sow. This trail led me to the south entrance where I rode the elevator up to visit the research library. After a short visit with the librarian, I returned to the main level to view the temporary “American Encounters: Thomas Cole andthe Narrative Landscape” exhibit.

Next I toured the sections of the building devoted to early-20th-century and 20th-century art. I particularly enjoyed seeing the paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe and Thomas Hart Benton - two of my favorite artists - and Andy Warhol’s portrait of Dolly Parton. Mary Cassatt’s “The Reader” and John Singer Sargent’s “Under The Willows” were also very appealing.

Later I left the comfort of the building for some outdoor exercise on the half-mile Rock Ledge Trail.This trail was named for the rock bluffs carved there to make way for a 19th century railroad begun in 1891 but never completed. I hiked to its end and back, pausing briefly at the Rock Ledge Shelter and again at Robyn Horn’s chain saw sculpture. Her “Already Set in Motion” is carved from a single block of redwood and then dyed a rustic black. Finally, I re-entered the building and bought a few postcards before making my way home.

Hardly a leaf stirs on these still, sultry summer afternoons. Even the birds grow silent during the heat of the day. But this weather is good for curing the farmers’ hay. Nancy has been busy canning green beans and beet pickles. When she’s not preserving some garden produce she’s been recruited to help her son in the hay field, keeping himsupplied with parts and helping haul bales to fill their barns.

Now, as the month ends, we look ahead to celebrating our Aunt Leta’s 101st birthday early in July.

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

Opinion, Pages 6 on 06/27/2012