I can’t tell you what a relief it is to have power on at the house.

It took a dozen calls to DTE and two weeks, but electricity has been restored to the house. In the meantime, we were burglarized twice, I lost entire days of work due to being restricted to daylight hours at the house, and there was precious few repairs we could do. The house was cold and dark most of the time.

The first light goes on at the Sullivan House

That changed tonight after a quick trip to the store with Kyle. A timer and lamp for the front of the house, an always-on construction light for the kitchen, and a motion-sensor light for the back of the house (where our burglar kept entering) immediately changed the score. We walked from room to room, discovered which light switches controlled ceiling fixtures. The house lit up for the first time.

Nevermind that the office light blinked a bit and smelled like burning. Skip past that. (Stays off for now).

My greatest hope was that the motion-sensor floodlight already installed in the backyard would spring back to life, but alas it could not be so simple. I hope to have our electrician check it out tomorrow so it’s back in service as quickly as possible. I regard it as the most important light on the entire property.

It looks like flashlight tours of the Sullivan House have drawn to a close. I’m sure they’ll seem much more romantic with a coat of wistful nostalgia applied.