I always thought that Epiphany (Jan 6/yesterday) honored the day that the Wise Men showed up at the manger; that gives us the "12 days" of Christmas. That's the case for us westerners, but the Orthodox folks use it for commemorating the baptism of Christ. One more factoid in the databank.
One of the quirky things I saw on the local news was a Epiphany cross toss in Tarpon Springs, where the local archbishop throws a cross into the water and a bunch of teen-aged boys go after it, starting in a semicircle about 25 yards from the drop spot; the guy who gets it is a local hero and gets a special blessing from the archbishop. I saw footage of a similar outing in Turkey, but they used a floating cross, so the guys didn't have to dive for it.
However, Tarpon Springs has a history of Greek sponge divers, so diving is part of the local tradition; it would make since to have to dive for the cross in that town. This years hero is a guy with that quintessential Greek name of Andrew McAdams; sounds like someone who'd win a caber toss rather than a cross toss.
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