Serve by Design

As we were pulling out of the garage this week, I looked straight out to the street area and saw a captivating sight. One, from our family of gray squirrels, was perched and relaxing upon the fire hydrant that sits between our property and that of a neighbor’s who just happens to be a firefighter! I loved the humor in this and wanted to send him the picture that I took with a caption regarding the legality of what I was seeing. Is this legal? Illinois law is specific about fire plugs and parking. You cannot block a hydrant or park a vehicle any closer than fifteen feet in any direction. This is for obvious safety reasons. Firefighters must have access to these “Johnny Pumps” during emergencies. (If you doubt the use of this Yankee synonym for hydrant, just look it up!). I wanted to ask my firefighter neighbor about the squirrel, “Is this legal?” I’m always curious about why the neighborhood squirrels like to get up a little higher while they’re nibbling on the acorns from my oak tree...