Good point, Dr. Price ~ the phrase "Christmas is coming" does not denote Christmas itself, but rather the period before Christmas.

Technically, the "start" of winter doesn't come around until the solstice, 12/21, very nearly Christmas day itself. (Along with many others, I believe that the date arbitrarily chosen for Christmas was actually intended to coincide exactly with the pre-Christian celebration of Yule, or the winter solstice.) The period leading up to this feast ("Advent," in Church terms) is actually "late fall," although it sure feels like winter in northern climes.

In current-day US parlance, we have "The Holidays," which includes not only Christmas and New Years but also, usually, by extension, Thanksgiving (a full month before Christmas, and the start of the dreaded "shopping" period). Of course, commericialism being the way it is, "Christmas shopping" can start as early as Halloween these days!