Lizzy the Lizard Takes Top Honors at Regional Spelling Bee

JOSHUA TREE BENCH— The auditorium hush broke clean as a mesquite twig when Elizabeth “Lizzy” Lizard, age nine and three-quarters, stepped to the mic in her Sunday neck ribbon and spelled xerophyte like she was ordering lemonade. Judges fanned themselves simultaneously—a sure sign you’ve done something right in this county.

Lizzy had battled through cholla, arroyo, and a controversial ocotillo (the pronouncer took a very firm stance on the double-l). Runner-up Wendell Whiptail bowed out on photosynthesis with grace, then whispered that he’d been rooting for her the whole time. That’s small-town sportsmanship, only scaled to fit a tail.

Afterward, Principal Gopher presented Lizzy with a chrome trophy roughly the size of a road atlas and a gift certificate to Berta’s Cream Soda Parlor, redeemable after Lent. Lizzy told this reporter she planned to celebrate with “one extra cricket, extra polite.” Her mother dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief the color of dusk.

The regional title sends Lizzy to the state finals in Casa Grande next month. Folks are already stitching booster sashes. If you see a banner that reads “Spell Like You Mean It,” you’ll know whose porch you’re passing—and you’ll wave, because optimism is in season year-round out here.