What really starts the season for me

When my MIL Betty asks "who did I draw for Christmas this year?" (Except it's been known to happen at 4th of July!)
Pumpkin pie
My first carton of silk soy eggnog
The golden leaves fall off my ginko (which sometimes doesn't happen til mid December)
I suppose if we actually manage to put our tree up Thanksgiving weekend this year (since we now have a fake one), that will be a trigger too.

Happy to be back on the blog--thanks for your help, Jed.

Love you all, Sandra