This charming light fixture and its twin have been casting a dull glow in the kids' bedrooms since we bought this house eleven years ago, and probably for five decades before that. The wires connecting the fixtures to the ceiling were covered with crumbling black paper, and of course there is no grounding wire.
Why did I get rid of the old ceiling fixtures just a few days before Emma moved out? I replaced them with ceiling fan lights, which cost only $40 each and which have significantly improved the climate, lighting and general modernity of the rooms. It took Sam and me less than an hour to replace each one. I should have done it years ago, and yet, there was no real catalyst. Perhaps just filling my thoughts with a project, to distract myself from her going away. But as I've discovered time and again, new stuff doesn't really fill the holes in your heart.
Still, it is nice to lie on the bed in the guest room, directly under a nice, cool breeze.
Here's a fun fact: there are no Energy Star ratings for fans. Which means you really don't know how much power they use. Maybe they're worse than air conditioning, and all this sweating and lolling about we've done has been to no purpose.
Question: am I cheating by "getting rid of" these old fixtures, when I was really replacing them with something new?
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