Christmas is one of the best holidays of the year; it is an iconic day celebrating the birth of Christ.

When I was young, Christmas morning was the long-awaited culmination of a boy’s hopes and dreams. I lived in the San Fernando Valley, where we saw angels, mangers, tumbleweed snowmen, and Santa’s sleighs erected in people’s yards, the front of City Hall, the library, and many other public places.

My mom and dad always took us to Wilshire Boulevard along the “Miracle Mile” in downtown Los Angeles, where all the stores were alight with merry displays, some had elaborate religious scenes complete with moving figures, huge Lionel train sets looping through miniature towns, and seemingly live reindeer pulling gift-laden sleighs through the winter sky.

Those were good old the days; no 24-hour news networks, no internet to bombard us with more information than we could possibly process, and no cell phones. And only a handful of black-and-white TV stations to entertain us.

Most importantly, there were no homeless camps with piles of stinking trash to obstruct the sidewalks; the exception was the very few spots downtown on “skid row.”

Today the images in large showroom windows are gone to be replaced with “online shopping” and dollar stores.

Most developers have done away with the large windows that used to house the colorful displays in their anchor stores because of “security reasons,” but some remain, and many are decorated.

Christmas lights and displays are a common sight in the yards of Lompoc.  Hundreds of houses are lit up with icicles, Santas, reindeer and snowmen.  The power lines must hum throughout the month of December as residents erect even larger displays than the year before.

I can still remember the first time I saw snow on Christmas. Coming from southern California, the only snow we saw was on our TV screen. One winter it snowed, but not on Christmas. and then it was quickly gone as the winter sun came up.

I was stationed with the U.S. Air Force at Rhine-Main Air Base, just outside of Frankfurt, Germany, and it snowed several inches of big fluffy flakes on the night before Christmas. It was an amazing sight to an 18-year -old far from home.

I took a long walk in the pine forest surrounding our air base that morning, and then went to the mess hall for dinner.

The military always had a big feast on Thanksgiving and Christmas, especially overseas where the young men and women are so far from home. This was no different as we ate shrimp cocktail, turkey, stuffing, gravy, and lots of baked goods.

Those big, tasty meals have faded, at least at nearby Vandenberg Space Force Base where the contractor running the dining hall puts out meager, luke-warm portions with little flavor.

As I grew older, I remember Christmas parties where people gathered and exchanged small gifts, ate lots of food, and shared some cheer. Church celebrations were always full of smiling and singing people, who were all very happy with life and brimming with good cheer. There were Christmas plays in schools and Jimmy Stewart always saved Christmas from the Grinch.

Yes, Christmas has always meant good will and happiness.

A few years ago the displays in public places started disappearing. A handful of misguided people had ruled the day and were trying to exclude this joyous holiday from “official” public discussion.

Christmas parties have now been replaced with the more politically correct “holiday gatherings;” school children take a “winter break;” we have “holiday parades” or a parade of lights; and mangers now only appear in our neighbors’ yards.

Our grandchildren are not allowed to sing or hum carols in many schools for fear that some children, their parents or teachers will somehow be tainted by the positive message of Christmas. And those Christmas skits and plays are mostly gone.

Here in Lompoc there are some encouraging signs. Some brave shop-keepers have put Christmas-themed displays in our storefronts. And, after much debate in council meetings about what to call it, there is the traditional Christmas Parade.

Christmas carols are returning to the lineup on radio stations after a multi-year hiatus. Finally, we are slowly getting back to the traditions I remember as a young man.

Some traditions shouldn’t be sacrificed to political correctness, and Christmas is one of those special times that should be left alone.

Merry Christmas to all – are those sleigh bells I hear in the night sky?

Now, get ready for the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl game.