Breaking up Xmas, home

Hooray Jake, Hooray John,
Breaking Up Christmas all day long.  
Way back yonder a long time ago,
The old folks danced at the do-si-do.
Santa Claus come, done and gone,
Breaking up Christmas right along.

So go the simple words of a classic fiddle tune about the 12th day after Christmas, the time known to church goers as the Epiphany: the celebration of the visit of the three kings, those wise men who were following the star, to the place where Jesus was born. According to tradition, Twelfth day, or, according to many of us, Twelfth Night, is the time when you "break up Christmas" and put away the decorations and remove the tree. Given how much stuff is in place at our house, accomplishing the put-away tasks in one day would be impossible, besides which, it's too freezing in the attic to access the storage boxes. So on the ridge, the Epiphany marks the time when we begin the job, which sometimes takes twelve days to finish.