A herd of 100 life-sized elephants has just arrived on Commonwealth Avenue Mall in Back Bay. The sculptures are part of a touring public art exhibition called The Great Elephant Migration. Since 2024, the herd has traveled across the United States, including stops in New York City, Newport, Rhode Island, Miami, and Houston. The elephants range from small calves to large adults. They are made from a repurposed invasive plant called Lantana camara by indigenous artisans from in Southern India. Each sculpture takes three to four months to complete and is inspired by a real-life elephant that lives in the region. Jeanine and I stopped to walk among the herd on the way home from the kids’ house, where I spent the afternoon installing a new washer/dryer hookup in Nico’s unit, and Jeanine did some gardening.

By way of comparison, below is a photo I took in 2004 of a real herd of elephants in South Africa. At the time, I was lying on top of a minivan that was rapidly backing up to make way for the procession.

Jeanine and I have decided to create a Japanese-style garden at the entryway to our house. My mother would have been thrilled with this prospect and would have dropped everything to help us with the design. Absent her guiding presence, we met this evening with a gardener whom we have decided to work with. While surveying the area with him, I noticed this golf-ball-sized object, which I later identified as a Lycoperdon Marginatum mushroom, more commonly known as a peeling puffball. Some sources suggest it is safe to eat, while others describe it as poisonous. You gotta wonder who decides to eat a mushroom hoping to determine its toxicity. In Mexico, the puffball is used to produce auditory hallucinations, although chemical analysis of fruit bodies has not revealed the presence of any substances that would cause this effect.

Buying a car sight unseen is a nerve-wracking experience, especially when it comes to picking a color. Thankfully, I had a chance both yesterday and today to rectify that situation. My dealer alerted me to the location of a local 2-day training session for sellers of the just-introduced car. I would have been thrilled to see just one car. When I arrived and saw 8 iX3s in a multitude of colors and trim packages, I was over the moon with joy. Both of the colors I am considering were among the group. Pictured above is my initial and final choice (Eucalyptus Green), with the same trim and wheels I have ordered. Only the interior was a different color, and I had a chance to sit inside for a few minutes. Despite the name, the color appears greyish-silver with only a hint of green.

Pictured below in the foreground is an iX5, the larger and more luxuriant version of the iX3. It will not even go on sale until next year, so I was shocked and delighted to find it in the mix. It is even larger than my Audi eTron and seeing it side-by-side only reinforced my choice of its baby brother.

Living in Concord, we are fortunate to have several family-owned farms within a stone’s throw. Verrill Farm is the closest to our home, and we shop there often. While driving past the fields today, it was hard to miss their massive sunflower crop, with their heads standing proud.

Jeanine, Susan, and I joined Kyle, Maya, and Brennan for an impromptu dinner at Trina’s Starlight Lounge in Somerville. Having spent the entire weekend with Nico, Susan was looking forward to some time with her niece and other nephew. Jeanine realized that Kyle was leaving for Nantucket on Wednesday, his 34th birthday, and decided to smuggle in her mouthwatering blueberry-lemon cake, candles, and a lighter for an unscheduled surprise celebration. We sang Happy Birthday at a whisper until the end, when I ramped up the volume to Kyle’s mortification. Like his father, Kyle does not enjoy being the center of attention. Also, my singing voice is so cringe-inducing that all members of the family prefer it when I remain silent and focus on taking the family photo.

Nicolai’s New England Revolution saved its best performance for the national championship finals, decisively beating Metro New York 4 to 0. Nico had a great tournament with 5 goals and 9 assists, earning him the Most Valuable Player Award.

A full set of photos from the tournament can be found HERE. I took over 4000 and winnowed it down to 1200. My goal was to ensure that every one of the ~100 players would have an action photo to memorialize the event. Below is my favorite shot of Nico.

Attending the Amp Soccer Cup weekend with us are my sister Alissa (center) and Jeanine’s sister, Susan (left). Despite the +80F temperature, the trio was determined to meet their step goal. Also among the spectators were Teddy (Nico’s girlfriend), her friend, and her roommate, Caroline.

Temperatures on the artificial turf fields were easily 10 degrees hotter, where Nico’s team added two victories to their win last night, paving the way to the championship match to be played tomorrow. The winner will be the best team in the country and take home the Cup.

In the evening, we all attended the Cleats & Cocktails fundraiser held in a massive hotel ballroom. Nico was the Master of Ceremonies, a role he was not exactly thrilled about. Nonetheless, he did an excellent job, and by the end of the evening, a total of more than $33,000 had been raised. The event included several speakers who talked about the importance of amputee soccer in their lives and two moving tributes to players who were taken by cancer this past year.