Our Canadian political scandals seem embarrassingly boring. Politicians vacation in the Caribbean and get excoriated- and rightly so. It’s not insurrection, warfare, murder and mayhem as in many countries around the globe, but it still ticks us off.

Yesterday was Epiphany Sunday and people around the world remembered the story of wealthy foreign diplomats who arrived in Jerusalem with their astrological charts indicating a royal birth. Their arrival threw the Israeli King Herod for a loop and he turned to his spiritual advisors for help.

It’s the sense of play I missed. My eyes got a bit leaky the other morning as I settled in to my morning prayers. The Christmas tree lights flashed as I admired my decorating. The wee tears came as I remembered the last couple of years decorating the tree with my granddaughter – with current restrictions I did it alone this year. I missed the playfulness, the teasing and the laughter.

Our neighbours have two young girls whose joyful playing together can bring smiles to our day. Other times our ears clang with their crying and wailing over some real or perceived grievance with one another or their parents.

The sunrise brightened my morning coffee, shining through our front door and advancing down the hall to where I was sitting the other morning. It surprised me because I’m used to its welcome home invasion through a kitchen window on a very different angle much of the year. I guess my house didn’t move but the angle of the earth sure has.