Brooks and Newell Curiosities

Brooks, Alberta, Canada

An up and coming city that is blossoming in many just like Annie's tulips.

These beautiful tulips come from Annie's little garden, which were tenderly waiting for her and Chris to get home from Egypt, just like their little girls.


I really enjoyed my two weeks in Brooks and surrounding communities. One day I went out with Rose Borkent and visited The Wool Mine. A very interesting rural art store whose owner, Tracey Kuffner, is a soon to become world renown writer, who also happens to spin wool and creates artwork with the felt she makes. While there I purchased one of her published books, When Max Became a Mom and the cutest wool hat, that according to Rose and Tracey, they would not be caught wearing unless it were 20 degrees below (Celcius!). To which I responded, "then no one would wear hats!" You can find The Wool Mine on your way out of Brooks to Newell. You make a right as if heading to the Dinosaur Provincial Park, and it is less than a quarter of mile down the road.

Another curiosity on the way back to Brooks, on the right side of the road, not more than a mile from the same intersection was a very humorous set up in a farmer's adjacent hill, depicting a hunter on top of a very rusty pickup hunting ducks. What is funny about it, is that the ducks who live in the duck pond, have no clue about the setup. You have to slow down and look down if you want to see it, since it isn't easily visible from the road, especially at 100 kilometers per hour. If you look closely there are actual ducks waddling along and a sign showing ducks crossing! Too funny! Thank you for sharing your good sense of humor and Rose for stopping so I could take the pictures.

Then finally there are those beautiful contrasting landscapes, the irrigation wheels with their crooked metal pipes resting softly on the side of the barbed wire fence and at another angle the wind breaking yellowed branched trees ready to signal that spring has arrived. Someone carefully planted these trees and calls that place home. How lucky. (Lucky really isn't the word, it's blessed.)

Brooks, if you look closely, you will see between the artwork, the cowboy shops, the bronze elk and horses on the side of the road, the colorfully painted water hydrants, the humorous farmers, your diverse community comprised of Dutch, South Africans and Sudanese immigrants, Cowboys, Ranchers, Canadians from all provinces, Americans, and more and then your plains full of lovely landscapes brimming with plants, what a wonderful place you are!

Whew, that was a mouthful!