Any of various tropical American weevils of the genus Zyzzyva, often destructive to plants. Last word in some dictionaries. From my window I look directly out at the roots of the Aleutians. My volcanoes are Illiamna and Redoubt, and, just hidden behind the bushes, St. Augustine, an island volcano in Kamishak Bay, where giant bears live on the Katmai side.
Eagles perch high back in the hills, and still six feet of snow.
Eons ago I lived in California and danced in all the great dances and played paradise in Golden Gate Park. Old hippie dreams still make me smile, maybe as much as they did when I wasn't dreaming. I've read Tolstoy backwards, breezed through Faulkner's library in Braille, and memorized The Taming of the Shrew through osmosis. Once, when no one was looking, I edited Mark Twain. I am submitting my short story at the urging of Michael Sudmeier, a studio executive at Sony Pictures, who is considering adapting the piece to screen.