Well, it's summer and as you may or may not know, my wife puts together a very beautiful garden out back on the old loading dock. A little sanctuary right here in the city. We even harvest enough produce to make our own salsa and BLTs (minus the bacon. Ruth gets up early every day and waters, and we go out every night and she works out there for a few hours. She finds it relaxing and I enjoy our time out there as well. She has well over 130 pots going.

Well...... The last week or so Ruth has been coming up quite upset. Something or someone has been messing around with her plants. She thought maybe patrons of the local Mexican restaurants after too many margaritas. I figured maybe a skunk. Now remember, we are in the heart of down town Milwaukee, 15 min. walk from the main drag. But over the years I have seen geese, ducks, raccoons, a fox, skunks and possum. I write it off to being close to the river.

So any way.... we were outside tonight and Ruth is getting really upset. The lettuce is all gone. And the heads off a lot of flowers, including a yellow rose. While she's watering I was looking at the fence wondering how to stop the critter from getting in. We were sure at this point it was a skunk, so no way am I going to try a live trap on this bad boy. When all of a sudden-

"Honey? Do you think maybe the critter looks like that?"

And I point to a badger strolling through the back of the cemented yard. A Damn BADGER!!!!!! A well fed damn badger. And even when spraying with the hose he didn't hurry any quicker. He squeezed under the fence like the deluxe Terminator in Terminator 2!!!!!

and It's my guess that since it's the state animal I can't kill it, so I need to call some one at the city to come get him.

Meanwhile, if anyone knows of ways to get rid of badgers, please feel free to make suggestions. Otherwise I think we may need to research what they won't eat and plant that next year.

So anyway, have a wonderful summer!!! We're going to be spending a lot of time at Summerfest. Great acts coming.

Be well- and don't take your salads for granted!

Jon & Ruth