Most every Michigander has been to lovely Torch Lake. It's nestled in Northwestern Lower Michigan just a stone's throw from Lake Michigan. Let me restate: If I had the arm that used to have Torch Lake is a stone's throw from Lake Michigan. Anway, you get my drift, right. Here we are vacationing with close family friends. My mom took the picture--and she took a beauty

Top row left to right are: Carol Lilla, who's holding Stephen Magnotta (who was kind enough to send me this photo); Carol's husband, the great Pete Lilla--a kinder and more devoted friend you'll never find; Anna Magnotta, a kind, loving soul; Mike Magnotta and Anne Magnotta; Mike Magnotta, that patriarch of the Magnotta clan and a person who was kind, loving, funny, and generous all at the same time; Patrice Magnotta; and My dad, Phil Mongeau who is holding my brother who looks as if he was just told that the Tigers had lost to the Yankees.

Bottom row left to right are: My sister Celeste, Jim Magnotta, John Magnotta, and me.

These were great times, at a great lake, amid the Great Lakes. What could be better?

You've seen the come ons for genealogy web site, right? I was horsing around in a search engine when I can across a link that read: "Find where all the Mongeaus lived in 1920. I clicked on the link where I found a U.S map. Each state that had a Mongeau in the 1920 U.S. Census was highlighted. I clicked on Michigan and the page above displayed.

I was excited when I saw my grandfather and my aunts. Of course, the links are disabled so there was no detail without buying a subscription. I didn't cough up the money to go any further. I would just as soon spend the money on greens fees, which is a very Mongeau thing, indeed.

You may click on any photo to enlarge the image.

When I bought my 4Runner in 1999, my plan was to drive for many, many years. I paid it off 2 years ago and last night, 4Runner turned 100,000 miles. Here's a picture of the odometer taken from a cell phone while waiting at a stop light. I've tried to take good care of it (all scheduled maintenance, a fresh set of tires, a couple of batteries, and a starter), and it has rewarded me by being reliable and comfortable. It's no mystery why people buy and drive Toyotas.