Jamie and the Snake

Happy Sunday (at least I think that is what day it is)!

Day One of my new life in Costa Rica was pretty exciting…

I started out by tackling the unpacking of that “cientro treinta y cinco libras” of stuff I hauled to Central America. I can’t wait to see what I really need, what is available here and what falls into the “what the heck was I thinking?” category.

After neatly stacking all my clothes in the closet (y’all know about my OCD right?), it was time for a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, fruit and toast.  Wow, I could get used to this every morning but these items are a bit more expensive than in the US, so this was a treat!

Next, it was time to let Bentley out to roam around his new territory.  Bill and I really debated about how to address this, since Bentley had the run of the hill in Berkeley and often stayed out all night, returning with gifts of small critters and such… It seemed rather cruel to now keep him inside, but Costa Rica is not California – it truly is “a jungle out there”!

So we agreed to let him out a bit at a time to get used to his new home. Of course, once outside he promptly took off into the undergrowth to commence his explorations.  As my brain is a bit bigger than his and hopefully can make better decisions, I did not follow after him.  Within 10 minutes, my little furball was back, panting under a bush and ready to go back into the Casa to lay on the cool tile floor.  Whew, another cat disaster averted…

Next up, chores…

Doesn’t Bill make a cute “cabana boy”?

Whew, after all of that work, time for snacks…

Right after we sat down to eat, a big 40 foot snake came flying out of the patio garden right next to my foot and went slithering across the veranda and into the pool. Seems he had spotted a frog. Guess it was time for his lunch as well. Oh my goodness!

Ok, well, you all know about my lying habit, but this guy was big.

Unfortunately, our snake friend did not have much experience with infinity pools and after having his picture taken, over the edge he went into the pool below. Seems the walls were too high for him to slither out, so off went Bill with the pool tool to scoop him out and return him to whence he came, with me still shaking in my flip flops.

I have had a major fear of snakes since I was very young and had a disturbing encounter with a water snake in the Modesto River in Yosemite. One got caught around my leg when I was swimming and that was it for me – no more river swimming and definitely no more sleeping in a tent – since we all know that late at night snakes like to slither out of the river, come up the hill into the campground, stealthfully unzip the tent and crawl inside, right?

So, given that I have seen several more snakes since arriving, it is time to get over this fear and embrace these quite beautiful creatures as part of my new life.

But, just to be sure, I made Bill fully check out the interior of the RAV before we left for dinner – since we all know that late at night snakes like to slither out of the patio garden into the carport, stealthfully open the car door and crawl inside, right?

Hope your weekend was exciting as mine!