The DuPage River snakes through downtown Naperville, Illinois. The last time we were there, the sun shined bright on the leafy greenery along its riverwalk.

On Saturday, the look was a little different. We took a walk along it.Plenty of trees along the way, including this enormous oak. Ash. Not sure, that gnarled bark could be either, according to my untrained eye. Usually the presence of oak leaves and acorns would confirm that one way or the other, but those tree scatterings are covered by snow these days.
In the hollow of the tree —
— peanuts? Yes. Maybe a squirrel squirreled them away. Or maybe whimsical placement by a human.

Near the riverwalk I spotted a couple of plaques-on-rocks. This one has the look of passing a number of winters (and summers) out in the elements.
DuPage County Sesquicentennial

1839-1989

This recognition has been a joint effort of the DuPage County Sesquicentennial Celebration Inc., the city of Naperville, and the Naperville Heritage Society in honor of DuPage, the voyageur, for whom the county was named. DuPage operated the first recorded trading post at the forks of the DuPage River in Naperville, which eventually became the first county seat.

DuPage might have actually been Pierre Page, but he certainly was a trader in the area and had an establishment in the future DuPage County. Wheaton has been the county seat for a long time, since 1867.

A newer-looking plaque. As it should be, since it’s less than a year old. This is its first winter out in the elements.
I’m not going to transcribe all that, but it honors one Chuck Papanos, a long-time Naperville Park District employee associated with the riverwalk. “Chuck’s hard work helped make the riverwalk a place of beauty for everyone to enjoy,” it says in part.

Attaboy, Chuck. We did enjoy the riverwalk, even on a chilly January day.