Apologies for the lack of created content lately. Busy, busy, busy. Hopefully, the new format ensures there's always something of interest for visitors.

Anyway, I thought I might share with you an absolutely disgusting thing I found in my yard the other day.

See, it's like this. Over the winter, on some of those really cold days, we had a bit of a problem with the septic system (No, this story isn't about the septic system, but it does start there. In a way, it's worse.) - basically, the house stank, forcing me to run hot water for some time till things got back to normal down there.

So anyway, we figure, OK, come spring, it'll be time to get the system pumped out. Indeed, a few weeks back I noticed a bit of a foul smell in certain parts of the backyard. So, we got the guy to come, and he did, indeed, pump out the system.

But the smell in the yard didn't go away.

I'm thinking that even if there had been some "spillage" or something, hell, after a week or two the stink should be gone...where was it coming from?

Then I found it. "It" was a large blue plastic tub/bucket that had been left under the above-ground pool's wooden deck. When I noticed it, I saw that it was about 2/3rds full of brown water. The water was filled to the brim with mosquito larvae, above the water's surface, around the edge of the bucket, were scores of mosquitoes just chilling out, and in the water...floating in the water...oh God...floating in the water were several brownish lumps. They were brown below the water-line and white where they were at or above the surface - as though they had been deteriorating that way. They were about...chipmunk size.

And the smell...dear Lord...the smell. I do not have the literary skill to describe it, but certainly, this is what is meant by the word "stench." I half expected frickin' Cthulu to rise up out of there.

Having my daughter with me, and frankly needing to steel myself for any sort of cleanup, all I did at the time was sprinkle in some mosquito-larvae killing pellets, and then spray some bug killer on the live bugs.

It wasn't until the next day that I was ready to approach the clean-up. Fortunately, it was only about ten feet to the woods and a good place to dump that Satan's brew of Lovecraftian roiling corruption. I tried dragging it by the rope-handle at first, but the vibrations were causing waves in the water, and the idea that even a drop should get on me was too horrible to imagine.

So I did what I had to do. I grabbed both handles and lifted the tub. Then, holding my breath and walking oh-so-gingerly over to the wood-line, I walked. Like an acrophobic crossing a rope-bridge, I did not look down into the tub lest I lose my soul in there!

Reaching my destination, I set the tub down and, calculating just the proper amount of force to overturn the bucket and expel the contents without it rolling down the hill or splashing on me, I gave it just the right bit of shove with my foot, then another little tap to turn it completely over. The first shove got the contents out. I only looked closely enough to confirm that the lumps were, in fact, the corpses of at least three poor, ill-fated chipmunks. Their corpses were in such a state...I could only take the fleetingest of looks. No mortal eyes should see what I saw...or smell what I smelled.

Quick to the shed for a pitchfork to cover up what I saw with deteriorating grass clippings and pine needles.

The smell has dissipated, but the memory lives on.

I was going to end this story with a description of the beaver I saw swimming down there in the wetland behind my yard, then I read this story on how beavers may be responsible for increases in incidences of West Nile Virus...so I guess that's just the kind of day this is.