My 7 year old nephew did the same thing last week about why toast gets brown. I used to just want quick answers here, but now I see the back-and-forth explaining is what actually makes things stick. It's way more useful.

Heard they're a nightmare if you hit rock. True? Read a case study where a crew in Oklahoma had a hidden shelf and it sheared a whole row. But for sand and mud, sounds like a win. @the_luna is right, mud season proves it. Our old steel teeth would just get chewed up in that wet clay. Might have to push for a test run.

Look at the grain in the photos, they used solid walnut.

Classic case of tech making simple stuff complicated now.

Honestly just let it dry and keep using it. It's a notebook, not a museum piece. The stains and smudges will be a funny story later. My whole journal is full of coffee rings and it works fine.