The New Mexico Legislature, which I covered as a reporter for seven years, always seems to have time in between debate on major issues to bring a bit of levity or silliness into their work.
Witness in the last few years that we have added adopted legislation that declares the “official” state almost everything.
We have the official state question — “Red or Green.”
Then the official state answer — “Red, green or Christmas.”
The official state aroma — Roasting green chile.
The official necktie — Bolo tie.
The official cookie — Biscochito
The official state aircraft — Hot air balloon.
The official insect — Tarantula hawk wasp
And the list goes on. New Mexico had of them as of 2024. You can click on this link to see the entire list in proposed legislation to add a new one:
https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/25%20Regular/bills/senate/SB0498.html
The new “official” something is being proposed in Senate Bill 498. It declares the “lowrider” be designated as New Mexico’s “state vehicle.” As of this writing, the legislation has not been given final approval and is pending in a Senate Committee. A copy of part of the legislation is shown below:
The actual wording in the legislation is: W. The lowrider is adopted as the official vehicle
of New Mexico.“
Somehow, I always thought a battered Ford F-150 pickup truck with mismatched wheels, faded paint, mangled bumpers and non-working turn signals would be our official state vehicle.
And not to be outdone, a bill has been introduced in the New Mexico House of Representatives declaring August as the “New Mexico Red and Green Chile Month.”
That bill is pending in a Senate committee as of this writing.
All of this brings to my mind other things that we might need to declare as “official” in New Mexico. How about these?
Official state noxious weed — Tumbleweed.
Official state weather phenomena — Howling spring winds.
Official state burrito — Breakfast burrito.
Official state road hazard — Pothole.
Official state eyesore — Plastic Wal-Mart bag fluttering in the wind on a mesquite bush.
Official state butt of jokes — Espanola.
Official state bad government poster city — Sunland Park.
Official state building material — Adobe brick.
Official tacky souvenir — Carved howling coyote.
And of course, the official state state — New Mexico.
If you have others to offer, send them my way and I’ll publish them.
aero-cordero.com 
The tumble weed or Russian thistle, is an invasive species.
“In 1873, Russian immigrants arrived in South Dakota carrying flax seed that was apparently contaminated with Russian thistle seeds (Salsola tragus). Once sown, these invaders from another continent quickly sprouted, unhampered by natural predators and diseases to keep them in check.”
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