Metspitzer, I appreciate what you are saying, and that's what it
should be, but that's just not what it is and I'd like to figure it
out.

So here's additional information.

And the fixtu
1. The black wire is definitely hot.
2. The voltmeter shows zero voltage across the black and the white
when diconnected at the switch.

"In between":
With the circuit off, I performed a connectivity test by testing for
resistance. When I touched the two wires at the fixture, the
resistance went down to zero when measuring at the switch.

At the switch:
I. Both wires dead when wires not touching at the fixture.
II. With wires touching at the fixture, the white wire is hot and the
voltage across the wires shows 120V.

Does that help shed light on the situation?

Thanks!