It may take a bit longer to clear away Christmas this year. The tree in the Market Place is still there even if the lights and baubels are gone.
The sign outside St Edmund and our Lady in Abingdon still has the joy of Christmas.
On the church noticeboard a poem says the work of Christmas begins when the Kings have gone home and the shepherds are back with their flocks. Peacemaking is never complete.
The twelve days of Christmas end on 5 January – the day before Epiphany and the three magi. Another tradition runs Christmas for 40 days until 2 February (the Presentation in the Temple). Nobody has written any extra verses for the carol: “On the fortieth day of Christmas my true love sen to me…” Just as well!