When we were looking for an empty-nest home nineteen years ago, we had two criteria in addition to location:  a garage and a bedroom and bath on the first floor.

The house we bought has no bedroom or bath on the first floor. Although it does have a one-car garage, said garage has been fully occupied by a snow blower, a lawn mower, two bicycles, all kinds of gardening supplies, shovels, a grill, deck chairs, a 16-foot ladder, firewood, garbage cans and more. No room for a car.

Until now.

The men we hired to take care of our landscaping found our garage appalling.  They made a proposal.  They said it could be possible to hang everything on the walls in the garage and still have room for a car, and they said they could make it happen for a reasonable price. 

Their timing was great because we had just had a snowstorm that had been hard to clean off the car.  So we made a deal.

Success! 

Although the person on the passenger side has to get out of the car before it enters the garage and we do have to push in both side-view mirrors, it works. Our new heroes hung a tennis ball from the garage ceiling.  When the windshield comes into contact with the ball, we have to stop (or plow into all the things on the floor in the very back of the garage).  Everything but the garbage cans fits just fine. 

But everything has to remain in its exact place for this to work so I have warned Peter that our flawless forty-five year marriage would be in jeopardy if he doesn’t put everything back in its designated place.

We will probably put the car in the garage only when it is going to snow.  But as long as our marriage lasts, there will be no more shoveling it off.