I had already heard too many moans of "What can we do today?" and "I'm bored", and this is only day one of my son's Christmas break.  I needed to take him out of the house, but I didn't want to go to a mall or anything like that.  Then, voila!  The perfect idea:  we'd take a winter walk through the woods along Madigan Creek, just outside of the city limit.

Most of the course of the stream south of town is through private property.  I wouldn't let that spoil our fun today!

It would be a fairly short hike, less than a mile.  We would simply walk through the snow until we reached the mouth of Madigan Creek, where it empties into the Kishwaukee River about a hundred feet beyond where my son is standing on the left side of the photo.

The Kishwaukee is itself a very scenic river, one which I have written about before.  It is popular with canoers and tubers, but no one will be doing those kinds of activities on a cold day like today.

The only thing we saw on the water this day was a lone goose keeping watch for its next meal.

We decided not to disturb this creature, so we turned around to walk back toward our parked car.

Along the way, we notice our tracks have intermingled with those of the coyotes and rabbits.

When walking along a stream, it is nearly impossible NOT to pick up a stick and splash a little bit, even during the deepest chill of winter.

We notice the electrical wire overhead, a sign that our walk is nearing its end.  What a great little diversion on a cold winter morning!

Postscript...

Back in June I wandered along much of the same path as we did today.  Take a another look at that first photo I posted above.  

Now take a look at the same view from last June.  Aren't the changes of the seasons fascinating?