I am back in Brooks where I was the "Keynote Speaker" at the Grand Opening of the new Centennial Regional Arena. Keynote speaker is a fun way to put it because I was given five minutes to speak (which at an event like that is more than enough. I went maybe three and a half). Anyway, it's a beautiful facility. It seats 2200 people and is the home of the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

I admit to being a tad sentimental as I reflected back on the buzillions of hours I spent in our old arenas with Matt and Michael. Terrific times really. We met so many good people.

Anyway, I'll be back to Calgary today but careful planning is important. I think I'll drift back via the hill country that runs north of the TransCanada highway between Hussar and Rockyford.

It really is a pretty area. I used to hunt ducks, pheasant and sharptail grouse in those areas. Maybe I will one day again. My plan today is to take my camera. This is pothole country where stands of aspen and poplar ring sloughs that, come spring, will be home to pintails and mallards. 

The hills are the western end of the Wintering Hills, so named because a hundred and fifty years ago the Cree and I suppose the Blackfoot would come there to overwinter. Now it is farm and ranch company. The tiny village of Rosebud, famous for it's terrific dinner theatre, lies at the northern edge of all of this, but sits along the pretty valley that holds the Rosebud River. 

Today though I'll keep an eye out for deer and coyotes. I suspect the odd moose makes their way down there as well now that their range has expanded all the way down to Drumheller. They seem to have quite taken to the Rumsey morraine just north of Drumheller.

I'll be watching too for any small hint that spring will eventually come. I saw two crows in Calgary yesterday, which I take to mean that this very long winter will eventually end. Until then I'll be happy to wander for a time amongst frozen hills, while ensuring I get back to the couch for the Canada US hockey game. They are big boys who get to play for their nations, but whose dreams began in those small town arenas.