Everyday sculptors

Sometimes you just have to stand in amazement at the skill people show in everyday jobs.

The pool crew was today's example of work as art.

They were laying in the rebar, rhythmically bending (a foot here, with a pull), joining (a twist there, with a little buttonhook-like tool) and leaving behind the neatest armature of 10-inch squares you could imagine.

By late afternoon, they were wedging chunks of brick at intervals under the iron grid, to even out the thickness of the pool shell-to-be. Again, their skill was enough to get Brantley's attention. "Those boys do beautiful work," he said, shaking his head. That's high praise, because if you want to know about beautiful work, just stay around Ref and Mr. B for a while.

The plumbers, too, were finishing up hose bibs and getting everything shipshape, ready for their city inspection tomorrow. Ref was doing his own inspection today. "I like the penetration you're getting," he said about the foam they were using to seal each little place where pipes come through the floor.