Not just a garage

Our ranch house had an unusual feature--a garage under the house. This was practical because the house was built on the side of a mountain
The garage was the home of a lot of interesting things.  In the front, the car was parked in the winter, when the heat of the house would enable Mom or Daddy to start it.  In the back was the canning store room, pine shelves filled with rows of mason jars--green beans, peas, beets, corn, tomatoes and fruits.  Potatoes, onions and other root vegetables were stored in bins of sand.  The coal bin was just beside the stairs coming down from the summer kitchen.  

Daddy in front of garage

But there was also room for other things–unused furniture, spare parts for various equipment, and a secret stash of magazines–National Geographic.  We would steal away and look at the pictures of exotic birds and wildlife and of course the people from various countries, including the almost naked folk from Africa.  We were sure these were forbidden magazines, because of those photographs.  We would read the stories of how these people lived and then memorize the exotic names of the countries.  Only later did I find out that Mom had already read them, and thought them just too nice to throw away, and was planning to donate them to the school library.