This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I am in the process of snaking wire through my home. As I wind the wire through my house, my mind enjoys imagining all of the various scenes that will play out through the year…the heat and celebration of a fourth of July Block Party to the silence of a Christmas Eve celebration with a light drift of snow forming.

The process of wiring the house begins with envisioning where will we enter the home and set things down? How will we progress through the home down to the kitchen? How will we put away food, clean and prepare the food, and cook during those celebratory events in my future?

Where will we hang art on the wall? Will we plug in a Dust Buster in the broom closet? Do we group lights together depending on their individual functions, or divide them up into sub groups? Should I have choices in my lighting, direct for when I’m preparing a meal, then softer for enjoying the meal at the kitchen island?

I’m working with two people, both of whom I have worked with and respected for over 25 years, my interior designer, Susan Green, and my electrician, Harvey Rose of Harvey Rose Elecric Service. Truly in this scenario I’m just kind of standing by to answer major questions, but to listen to their give and take of these two professionals, backed up by their experience of years – will this work, how about shadows cast on the adjacent beam next to that can light – I am truly entertained and simultaneously impressed.

As I see the lights coming on in the house of my near future dream, my phone rings. It seems that the dream must wait and more practical matters must be attended to.

It seems that the placement of the meter base, the portal controlled by the electric company to light the lights of my new home, does not comply with the requirements of PGE. Instead of placing it on the end of the house, easily accessible and out of sight, it has to be on the front of my New Cottage in the Woods to make it even easier to read. It does seem a bit ridiculous that with interconnected electric meters, that the ease of readability still has impact.