new pool

and a picture of Duncan, for good measure (trying to find a bit of shade on a hot day)

I'm trying to set up and fill our new pool--it's not quite right yet (hopefully I'll get it up by the weekend).  Here are some pictures of the work in progress...I have to tell the story behind the pool:  I joined our local community Yahoo group last year, which posts among other things community events; recommendations for contractors, dentists, pediatricians, and the like; items for sale; and requests for items members want to buy.  A few weeks ago, I bought a pool after seeing it advertised for sale on the network, and Jack, Elizabeth, and I then drove over to pick it up.  When we got there, a woman came out of the garage to meet us and started to laugh.  I did, too:  believe it or not, but we'd met before, in Guangzhou, of all places!  (When I traveled to China in 2004 to adopt Elizabeth, I met Sheri and her husband, Arthur, while out walking with Elizabeth near the White Swan on Shamian Island.  They had traveled to China at the same time to adopt their daughter, Meg.   Sheri and Arthur happened to strike up a conversation with another family in my travel group and, when they shared that they were from Maine, Rick called me back to meet them.  Too funny--we live in neighboring small Maine towns but had to travel to China to meet each other!  We saw each other again after coming home a couple more times over the  last few years:  we ran into each other by chance in the summer of 2005 at a local farm that sells ice cream, and both girls took swimming lessons together last summer).  We had a great talk when we saw each other again when picking up the pool.  Sheri noticed the license plate on our minivan and asked if we had a Yellow lab--I said, we did, but he passed away last August.  I asked, did she have a lab as well?  She said, No, but we have a Golden.  I then asked what his name was?  She said, Katahdin.  At that point, all I could do was to laugh because our lab was named Baxter.  (For those of you who don't know, Mount Katahdin is the highest mountain in Maine and is located in Baxter State Park).  Another red thread...!