How do you know that the holiday season is officially over?
Back when I lived in a ferrin country I knew the answer to that. It was January 6th. The Three King's Day. That's when everyone's Christmas lights went dormant, though the ones that were strung on the roof remained there for special occasions that would crop up through the year.
But now, I have found my own benchmark. The holiday season officially ended today when I finally sent my Christmas cards!
Anyone else have any other indicators?
= new reply since forum marked as read
Years ago the fire chief was concerned about fires starting from dried out Christmas trees so he started a tradition. People were encouraged to put their trees out before New Year's Eve. The city would pick them up, pile them against a large pole and after dark on New Year's Eve, they would set fire to them. Although with the advent of artificial trees the size of the pile of trees is smaller than it used to be, people still gather for the event every year.
Here is a shot from several years ago, the last time I went:
I haven't lived there for over 40 years and I still like the tradition!
The series starts when they lit the pile and went until it was nearly out. I wanted to make a mini-movie or animated GIF from them, but they are not the same size or at the same angle.
Maybe next year I can get to the New Year's celebration again. This time I will put my camera on a tripod and take all the pictures with the same settings. Or maybe I will just take a movie since my current camera is capable!
Edited to add: Thank you for the compliment on the photo. 
and what a cool tradition
although i don't know how eco friendly it is.....?
our town collects the trees too (i haven't had a real tree in years) but i don't know what they do with them. i imagine...? hell, i don't fucking know. 
Not sure what lens, it's been so long.
When you take 40-50 pictures, it's not hard to come up with one good one, though. 
Here in Tallahassee, they collect the trees and chip them into mulch which is used in the city parks. The original idea in my hometown was fire prevention and now people really like the tradition. But it's in the middle of land mined out for the phosphate industry - not very many in that town are concerned about being eco friendly.
By slowly feeding the tree in, top first.
The Fire Department was able to save the house, but the sofa was toast. 
And there is no sofa.
Today, not so much. 
That's how he got his nickname: 'Lucky.' 
