Dec. 26—I hope there are people and families who do the same after as before.

For many years, I think society has put the emphasis on Christmas starting after Halloween and then putting that emphasis proverbially into fifth-gear after Thanksgiving. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, other than I think Christmas should wait until after Thanksgiving.

But there are still some pieces of society that continue the Christmas season after Dec. 25. I wish we could, as a society, start shifting more of the fun and festive after Dec. 25 than before. The age old song “12 Days of Christmas” is about the gifts starting with Dec. 25. I’ve heard so many parodies of that song over the years, I forgot the original. I can get to five golden rings, but can’t remember the gifts after that.

There is another way the emphasis after Christmas Day is shown, but it is more of a spiritual purpose.

Depending upon the church or denomination, the Christmas season ends Jan. 6 with Epiphany. It is the time when those in the Christian faith remember the wise men, or magi or kings, who visited Jesus after his birth. Three is a common number to use for the kings as it represents the three gifts given to Jesus.

Epiphany is also when some Churches remember when Jesus was baptized. Biblical historians estimate he was 30 at the time and started his ministry. Epiphany means “revelation” and both the visit of the wise men and his baptism were noted times in his life.

For more than 100 years Tarpon Springs, which is part of metro-Tampa, Florida, has an annual Epiphany celebration that brings more than 20,000 visitors to the area each year, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Part of the celebration includes a contest to dive into a portion of the Tarpon Springs bay waters and find a cross sitting on the ocean floor. (The area has a history of Greek culture and the beginnings of the sponge industry. Great tourist stop!)

The Times claims Tarpon Springs hosts the largest Epiphany celebration in the western hemisphere. Five years ago, my family celebrated Christmas in Florida over the New Year’s Day holiday. Friends who live in the area told us of Tarpon Springs which we visited and enjoyed very much. But we didn’t know about the Epiphany celebration until we got there as others told us about it. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time in our schedule to stay an extra day or two to see. Now, that is on our bucket list.

Some also use Epiphany as the day to take down Christmas decorations. That’s not a bad rule. I know of people who at least keep up their lights on the outside of their house. That can be a chore to install every year, considering if winter weather hits early.

Keep celebrating Christmas, for whatever reason. It’s not over. It’s just beginning.

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As colleague Cheyenne Roche noted in her column last week, it was great Republican presidential candidate Nikki Halley finally spoke in our coverage area. She was in Osceola last week. I was wondering why it took her so long to get into southern or Southwest Iowa. I’ll play the odds and say she knows there are enough Republicans in our corner of the state for her to be comfortable with and not have to campaign.

We’ve seen Republicans Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy a few times combined since late summer and fall. Ramaswamy made his second Creston appearance before Christmas as part of another swing through southern Iowa. Trump has not been in southern Iowa and I’d be surprised if he ever will.

Chris Christie chose not to campaign Iowa. I wonder if he may be influenced by the years of growing attention of the criticism of Iowa’s first in the nation caucus. Some say Iowa shouldn’t be first because it’s not the most representative demographic of voters; age, race and so on. We have not done well the past two caucuses either. In 2016, we messed up the math counting for the Republicans. In 2020, the technology failed for the Democrats. So, at least we have treated both parties equally.

Iowa’s caucus is Monday, Jan. 15. We will not have a newspaper that day because of the Martin Luther King holiday and the office will be closed. We are making arrangements to attend a Union County caucus site for coverage.