Over the weekend, I spent some time filling cracks and holes in the walls of our bedroom and guest room. The rooms are in need of a fresh coat of paint (which always means about three coats), so job one is making sure the walls are in good shape.

There are plenty to work on. A small hole from the nail a picture hung from. Holes where a shelf was affixed in a corner. Holes from the screws that kept three bookcases from toppling over on top of someone. Some of those were pretty big. Holes from where the plaster had popped off from over a screw head. Most of those were in the ceiling, but not all. Several crack from, I’m guessing, the building settling.

The work was done in daytime. Sun streaming through the windows. I thought I did a good job catching all the holes.

Getting ready for bed, with only the light from my bedside lamp, I spotted several imperfections on a wall. Invisible in full sun the shadows created by the weak light of the lamp made them much easier to see.

This brings up an important lesson – problems can hide in plain sight. Just because there is a good view doesn’t mean everything is visible. It’s best to look at something from a view perspectives to get a better understanding of it.