Yes, Sean. There is a Santa Claus.

Do you believe in Santa Claus? Our photographer Sean O'Neil and I do.

This morning we were in Leland to shoot a story. On the way back, we got a flat tire. We pulled into a gas station, and as Sean worked on the jack, I pulled a three-inch nail out of the tire. I had free time to do it, because the jack just couldn't raise our Ford Escape high enough for us to get the spare on. Noticing our frustration, a man at a nearby gas pump yelled to us.

"Need another jack?" he asked. I couldn't believe my eyes. There was a man with a long, white beard and a red stocking cap pulling a jack from the trunk of his car. He might as well have been pulling a toy from a big red bag in a sleigh. He was the personification of kindness and generosity. He was a symbol for others. He was, as far as we were concerned, Santa Claus.

"I just watched you on TV this morning," he told me as he carried the jack over. Imagine that: Santa watches me on TV.

Anyway… within seconds, he and his jack did what we could not do in about 15 minutes. Quickly Sean had the spare tire on and the lugnuts tightened. We were on our way, and so was our personal Santa. I managed to snap a photo with my cell phone before we left, because I knew no one would believe it when we told them who had helped us. Oddly, neither Sean nor I bothered to ask the man his name. Perhaps we just figured we already knew it. Kris Kringle? St. Nick? Whatever your name, thank you again, sir. And have a very merry Christmas.