It’s time for a quiz. This is a closed book test so don’t try sneaking off to the computer or peeking at any encyclopedias. It should be easy for everyone. It’s about our province, Alberta.
Can you list the official things of Alberta? What are the emblems of our fine province? The first question is the easiest. What is the official flower of Alberta? Excellent. It is the wild rose. How about the official animal? The Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep has the honor.
My interest was piqued when my wife noted in a book that Alberta has an official tree and an official grass. My guess that the pine is the woody emblem of the province wasn’t far off. The answer is the Lodgepoll pine. I couldn’t even guess the second part. Isn’t a rose and an evergreen good enough representation from the vegetative part of our planet? There is an answer. Rough Fescue is the official grass emblem of Alberta.
Oh, we’ve got some smart readers out there in Vermilion. I heard the faint cry about our other official animals. There are more than the just the sheep with round-about horns. The official bird is the Great Horned Owl. The official fish is the Bull Trout. They are all excellent representatives of this excellent part of Confederation.
Plants are represented. Animals have members on the list. Being a province proud in its diversity an inanimate object has also earned high standing. Alberta has an official stone. Guess. Come on. Try it. Okay, the answer is Petrified Wood. (Insert your own Alberta joke here.)
So, why the long list of official thingies for our province? Why did we stop where we did? At what point does some one stand up and ask for the official monocellular organism. (Mr. Speaker, I present this petition asking that E. coli be named as the official bacteria of our fine province.) Would the spleen be our official organ?
I suppose it all has to have an end. I’m not entirely sure how either of my suggestions above would fit under the motto of Fortis et Liber (strong and free) or the colors Blue and Gold (which symbolize the sky and the prairies). Except that a spleen helps you remain strong and free (and not turn blue and yellow) when that batch of E. coli from your undercooked Alberta beef hits your gut. I don’t really have a point to make this week. I’m just rambling.
