Solomon Juneau

We needed to go to the UPS store which opens at 8, & my plan was to be there at 8 & then walk around & take some pictures while the light was good. Tom got up according to plan, but someone else managed to fall back asleep & didn't wake up till almost 10, so by the time we got there & then went looking around, the light was bad--so this is a little washed out! This is a bronze statue of Solomon Juneau that was made by Richard Henry Park, & was unveiled in 1887 by Juneau's granddaughter, Hattie White. It stands overlooking a park that was named after him.... Lake Michigan lies behind him. It was commissioned by & donated to the city by 2 of Juneau's long time friends, to commemorate all Juneau did to develop the city of Milwaukee. Juneau was a French Canadian, born near Montreal in 1793 & who became a french fur trader with the American Fur Company. In 1818 the Fur Company built a trading post in Milwaukee, & while visiting here, he decided to purchase the land between the Milwaukee River & Lake Michigan--he named it Juneautown. He was the first postmaster & was elected the first mayor of Milwaukee in 1846. He died in 1856, but left a lasting legacy.

And on a different subject, some of you may recall that I mentioned putting safflower seeds in one of my birdfeeders & none of the birds eating it. Well, I've noticed over the past few days that the feeder was almost empty, & I thought that was odd, as I haven't seen a single bird on that feeder. Yesterday, I found out where the seed is going! We have 2 chipmunks who live under the shed in our neighbor's yard, altho' we hadn't seen them all winter.....we call them Chip & Dale, after the chipmunks in the Disney cartoons. One of them--not sure if it was Chip or Dale, was halfway up the metal pole, hanging on for dear life. All of a sudden he leapt across onto the feeder & helped himself. Then he stood on the edge of the feeder for a bit (likely getting his nerve up) then leapt to the ground & layed there for a few seconds. Got up, & beat it home! Must have a nice pile of seeds put away for a rainy day! :)