headlight issue

discovered today that my headlights come on with the ignition switch (never done this prior). upon investigation I discovered that when the headlights are on, I can turn the ignition switch off and remove the key -- engine stays running, push in the headlight switch, engine dies.

did not find a headlight sentinal as pointed out by hornbrod in this post or even the plug for it -- http://comancheclub....hts#entry307866

highbeams come on & highbeam indicator lamp comes on as per normal ops --

even looked for the headlight module (under the hood) that our Canadian cousins have issues with - not found ---

did find under the dash a black module with the marking SE8956000428 molded into it and UTA 0326 painted on it.

my voltage guage is not reading in the 12 volt area not up at 14 like previously

edit -- it was raining here yesterday, had to ford a small river at an intersection --- maybe something is wet?

any ideas?

thanks one and all