Rain = Christmas?

It has started to rain again. Just a few days, then sunshine, then some more rain. Not the solid gray mist that settles in later in the season. But rain. I absolutely love it. I want to open the windows and listen to it. I want to be alone in my room so I can hear it on the roof. I want to wear polar fleece and rain gear and walk in it. The kids love it too, but for different reasons. They want to build a fire in the fireplace, make cookies, play board games and make their Christmas List. Wait a minute - make their Christmas List? What is that all about? And then I realized. Rain signals the beginning of the new season. Here the only difference between fall and winter is colder rain. We don't really get a crisp, dry fall with glorious color. The trees change, then drop their leaves, but it has already started to rain by then and there is no fun in making a pile of leaves and jumping in it unless you just want to get wet and muddy. We rake the leaves into the street in December and a big vacuum machine comes by to suck them up. So the rain really signals the beginning of winter weather, and the kids have acclimated to that fact. We still love snow, deep down, and will never lose that. But this year, Rain = Christmas.