Wow, wow, wow.
What a productive day.
I’ve been wondering just how far I’d be able to get across the bog with the Dingo, and today I got about two-thirds of the way across.
More importantly, that’s pretty much as far as I really needed to go.
I made it through all of the really wet, muddy sections by adding fill on top of the bog. From there, the peat changes considerably.
It’s still springy—almost like walking on a firm mattress—but you don’t sink into the mud and your feet don’t get particularly wet.
I think I can build the walkway directly over that section without adding any more dirt.
So this was a huge day.
The Dingo performed beautifully and, most importantly, did not disappear into the Maine peat bog, which was really my primary objective.
I’m now in a good position to begin actually building the walkway—putting down the sleepers, laying out the stringers, and eventually adding the decking.
After all the planning, hauling lumber, cutting timbers, moving dirt, and wondering whether this whole idea was going to work, I’m finally ready to start building something.
I’m pumped.
It’s also hard to believe that today is Day 15.
I’m roughly halfway through my month at Camp Hidey Ho already.
That went fast.
In some ways I feel like I’m just hitting my stride, which makes me a little nervous about whether I’ll get everything done that I hoped to accomplish this year.
But if the next two weeks are anything like today, I should be in pretty good shape.
Last night was another cool one. It was 59 degrees inside the cabin this morning.
At about 4:00 a.m., though, I woke up to a familiar sound.
A mouse.
Or at least that’s what I assumed.
It sounded like something chewing on plastic near the food. I’ve learned from experience, so all the food is now stored inside large plastic tubs specifically to prevent the mice from getting into it.
I grabbed my flashlight, got out of bed, and went looking.
Nothing.
The food bins were fine.
Nothing had been chewed.
I started back toward bed.
Then I heard it again.
Eventually I tracked down the sound to the little trash can beside the chair where I sit to watch the Phillies.
Apparently, my mouse had managed to catch himself.
There was an empty pistachio bag in the trash—a fairly heavy plastic bag—and somehow the mouse had either crawled or fallen into it.
Then he couldn’t get back out.
So there he was, rustling around inside the bag at four in the morning.
We said hello.
I carried the bag outside, tossed it gently onto the ground, and out he ran.
I’m sure we’ll meet again.
But I have to give him credit for making mouse removal remarkably easy.
After I got up for the day, I tried out some of yesterday’s purchases from the Blueberry Festival.
Breakfast cereal went into my new couch bowl.
Coffee went into my new mug.
Very civilized.
Then I walked over to Neighbor Joe’s place to finally take care of the tree across his driveway.
What a difference a sharp chainsaw chain makes.
I was in and out in about 20 minutes.
Driveway clear.
Another job done.
I’ll give Joe a call and let him know he’s back in business.
Then it was time for the main event: moving dirt with the Dingo.
While digging into the pile the dirt guys had left for me, I noticed something strange in one of the scoops.
Little white balls.
About an inch or so across—almost like small ping-pong balls.
At first I thought they were pieces of Styrofoam.
Then I looked more closely.
They were leathery and slightly squishy, with part of the surface appearing somewhat translucent.
These weren’t Styrofoam balls.
They were eggs.
Once I started looking carefully through the disturbed dirt, I found roughly two dozen of them.
I’d never seen anything like them before, so I asked ChatGPT what they might be.
The most likely answer appears to be snapping turtle eggs.
That was certainly not something I expected to excavate with a Dingo today.
I reburied the eggs as carefully as I could.
Whether they’ll actually hatch is another question.
Snapping turtles in this area typically lay their eggs earlier in the summer, with hatchlings emerging later, often around September. Normally, turtle eggs shouldn’t be rotated after they’re laid because the developing embryo becomes positioned inside the egg.
The problem is that I don’t think these eggs were laid where I found them.
The dirt guys brought this fill from somewhere else and moved it down to the end of my driveway. If the eggs were already in that material, they were probably disturbed and rotated during excavation, transportation and dumping long before I discovered them.
So I have absolutely no idea what their original orientation was.
Still, I figured the best thing I could do was rebury them and give them a chance.
We’ll see what happens.
Maybe Camp Hidey Ho will have a turtle nursery. Although the idea of having two dozen snapping turtles in the bog and the lake are a mixed blessing.
The Phillies played this afternoon and won.
I didn’t see much of the game—maybe one inning when I came back to the cabin for some refreshments—but a win is a win.
Tonight should be quiet.
I think I’ll spend some time working on the blog and getting more of these journal entries posted.
After today’s progress on the bog, I’m feeling very good about where things stand.
Tomorrow we start building.