When I was a kid growing up in the hills there was a family who lived about two miles farther back in the sticks than us. They had a bunch of kids ranging in age from low teens to a one year old.

Well, the old man had a 12 gauge, double barrel shot gun which, of course, all the kids knew about and knew to stay away from.

At Christmas, the old man would hide the presents outside so the kids could not find them. Christmas eve, after the kids went to bed, he would go out and pile the gifts on the front porch. Then he would fire off both barrels of that loud shot gun.

Of course everyone would run outside to see what was going on. He would tell them, �There was a strange looking man out here in the darndest wagon I ever seen, and his mules had horns like a deer. I fired the gun in the air to scare him away, and he got out of here fast, but he dropped these packages before he left...�

That trick worked for years and he never did get a Santa suit...