once upon a time, i set a field on fire

accidentally. a whole field.

my front yard, to be exact.

oops.

a couple months ago, as we started getting into dry season, people began burning fields. it filled the air with smoke and was generally disgusting and made everything look charred and ugly. no one burned the weeds in front of my house, and they grew increasingly dry.

in ghana, it is normal to burn your trash. since this is a country that is still developing, organized trash collection is rare, so you just take your little bag out to your little hole and light a little match and there it goes. no problem.

ahem.

except today.

i was careful. i promise i was. i looked away for ONE MOMENT and WHOOSH the whole field was suddenly ablaze. I AM SERIOUS. i just stood there. and stared.

i mean, running for water would have done NOTHING. and there is no fire department to call. i just had to let this wildfire run its course.

i went inside and watched out the window for a little while. i felt sick to my stomach watching. i tried to distract myself, but i kept checking the status of the huge inferno that was my front yard.

i kept telling myself it was ok, but i had no idea if it WAS ok. then i heard my neighbor: joy? is joy home? hello?

CRAP. i answered the door, waiting for her to yell at me for being such an idiot and setting a whole freaking field on fire.

she asked if i started the fire. i said yes, started talking really fast about how it just happened and i didn't know what to do and i'm so sorry and oh my goodness what can we do about it?

and she just laughed at me. straight up laughed at me.

so i guess it was ok.

another day, another adventure.