It has been exactly a month and four days since writing about the peculiar chair.

A lot has happened and will be happening in the past month and forward, however content has been a little thin. Really not the case though, as I’ve just been feeling really uninspired as of late. I have all of these ideas, projects coming along, and yet, I cannot seem to find the right words to say.

I chalk it up to a few things actually, the situation unfolding in Europe, a close friend departing Togo, the groundhogs day-esque feeling waking up every morning simply because it hasn’t rained in months, the construction occurring all day on all sides of our property, but then again, I attribute most of these things also to my officially undiagnosed anxiety, ADHD, misophonia and slight OCD.

But lets take a step back to February 14th. Valentines Day 🙂

It was on my schedule to take photos for the unveiling of a project that my friend started. She really is an amazing human, and I’m glad that even though we had 6 short months of in person friendship in this lifestyle, we still keep in touch as she navigates DC, me still, in Togo, as we’re planning for the next stop.

Anyways, back to the story….

I woke up, the sun light coming through the window, and I was feeling extra good. I laid in bed for awhile in what I call “defrosting,” checking my notifications, emails, news, etc. And then….the doorbell rang….

So I rush up, grab my robe, hair all crazy, and head through the kitchen where our guard is standing. He says that there is a snake, and I need to follow him. In apparent events, our pool guy had seen it in the grass from the backyard heading to the front on the side of the house. After following it, the snake had settled into one of our AC systems. So he alerted the guard, who asked me to turn on that AC unit to try and either fry the snake, or get it to come out to meet its demise with a machete.

*Insert the swirly eyes emoji*

I did as I was told, and waited inside. Our dog was very anxious to go outside and see the commotion, but all things considered, he had to stay in. I heard the garage door open, and I peeked outside and asked the guard if it was eliminated…He said it wouldn’t come out….

Meanwhile, I texted my friend the events of the morning, and she told her husband and he sent some facilities workers from the embassy to check it out.

So then by that time, I had showered, and then the doorbell rang again. I throw on the robe again and run to the door, it was the facilities guys telling me that they were here to check around the house for the snake. Life goes on, then again, the doorbell rang, to say that the snake must’ve gotten out because they did not find it.

Okay…cool….

I asked the guard what it looked like, and he said the color of leaves and long. So I did the normal thing of typing “Long green snake Togo” into Google and it immediately came back a Western Green Mamba.

Nice. Just nice.

I take the dog out and keep a close eye on him in the yard.

The doorbell rings again, and by this time I thought it was my friend picking me up and I had all of my stuff ready to go in my hands and out the door I went…

WRONG.

It was a delivery person delivering chocolate and flowers, nice because it was Valentines Day, right? Well, then the more awkward moment of them needing a photo happened.

Okay, they were very nice. I’m still making my way through the chocolate because I’m not a fan of dark chocolate, let alone mixed with ginger, so that’s a thing.

So I went back inside and then the doorbell rang AGAIN, and it finally was my friend!!

We traveled about 30 minutes north of Lomé to a small village, and I got to take some photos.

After that excursion, I came home, and waited for H to get home from work. I told him of the days events, we went to dinner, and when we returned, we warned the guard on duty for the night of the potentiality of a snake being in the yard.

The next morning, we were in the office and head a giant crash. We thought maybe our countertop oven blew up since it’s an American appliance on a transformer. Woes of overseas living…

We ran to the kitchen and opened the door and there was our guard telling us to get back, meanwhile, Stitch had run outside and after a lot of yelling, we finally coaxed him back inside since the snake was immediately to the left of the door in our recycling bin area.

After using long pieces of wood from our household effects shipment to move the recycling bins, the snake was eliminated. RIP. While although beautiful from a nature perspective, these snakes can kill you within 30 minutes from a bite without proper treatment. And honestly, it was unknown at the time what our options were as far as treatment. It was scary. I also did cry for a good bit about it for the next few days.

I cropped the photo to spare you its full on gore of a corpse, but the scale pattern of these things is just remarkable.

So needless to say, we were very thankful that no one was injured, and were jumpy of leaves on the ground every time we walked outside.

It’s just another weird thing to think of, that we’re this close to venomous snakes in this unfamiliar place. I spent a significant time in South Georgia, so I am pretty used to cotton mouths and copper heads. But this? A whole new level.

Sometimes when I think about this wake up call regarding getting complacent, it scares me. As we plan for the future, I now take into account all things natural that could lead to disaster.

But somehow, I’m again reminded that of all the beautiful things that nature gives. Like this basket that our local basket man had woven that now hangs on our wall, and it’s woven pattern, while unintentional, looks a lot like the serpent scales.

We have other little nature friends that pay us visits, like birds that bang on our windows because they see their reflection, lizards of all kinds, a bat once…

It’s all just a reminder that here in Lomé, Togo, West Africa, life is different and is exposing us to new realities, experiences, and eventually memories.

I hope you’re doing well, all things considered.

Carrie