“Sixty amps,” he said.

“Old glass plug fuses inside.

A dryer and an air conditioner would blow the main in five minutes.”

“Can you rewire it yourself?” I asked.

“I can pull the cable,” he said.

“We’ll need a new panel and a county permit before they turn the power back on.”

He stepped back and kicked a clump of dead crabgrass away from the corner of the house, uncovering the light gray stone underneath.

“Ridge is straight, foundation is limestone, and it hasn’t moved,” he said, looking back up at the roofline.