It’s this time of year, when the leaves change, the temperature drops and — in Minnesota at least — the snow falls, but it’s also the time for Candy Corn soda, orange-colored creme filled Oreos and almost everything pumpkin.

The holidays — from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas — are so filled with commercialism that some people actually get sick about it and disgusted.

I kind of like it.

In the past few weeks, I’ve savored a pumpkin-spice latte; enjoyed a slice or two of my sister’s pumpkin bread for breakfast; purchased two smaller pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch; snacked on some Halloween edition Oreos; and chugged down a few cans of Candy Corn soda made by the Jones Company.

This morning I chose a pumpkin cheesecake donut to go with my large coffee, and just last night, I whipped up some peppermint hot chocolate because Christmas — of course — is just more than two months away.

Someone is making a fortune on folks like me, but I don’t mind.

For some reason, eating and buying holiday-themed items just make the seasons, well, that much more seasonal, as weird as that may sound.

I know it’s fall outside because it’s colder than it was a month ago, the leaves outside my office window —what’s left of them— have turned color and it says so on the calendar.

But it always feels more like fall with a nice pumpkin latte in my hand.

And it stems beyond holiday-themed food.

I enjoy Christmas music too — good Christmas music I should add — I don’t listen to The Chipmunks — and I will pick out a tree this year and carry on the family tradition of watching one Christmas movie a week from Nov. 1 until Dec. 25.

I know the holidays have a much deeper meaning than Oreos and unique-flavored sodas — and I enjoy the true meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas for instance — but for whatever reason I enjoy the rest of it too.

Now all of this writing is making me hungry, and it’s almost time for lunch. I wonder if they make pumpkin soup.