The Day I Caught Santa Claus

Although it was many years ago I remember the events well, as if they occurred only yesterday. My boys were the ripe old ages of 10 and 7, and firmly entrenched in their wondrous child-like belief of Santa Claus. One would think the threat of being placed on Santa's naughty list would keep my mischievous kids on their best behavior, but alas, those threats seemingly fell on deaf ears. Fortunately, at that time, we had the mystical powers of "Honey Dew," our aptly named elf-on-the-shelf. He had the amazing ability of keeping our boys in-line leading up to the Christmas celebration. That fact that my youngest child was terrified of Honey Dew mattered not, his Chuckie-the-doll-like stare kept both my spawn on the up and up, so for that, I was grateful.

A few weeks before Christmas I sat down to dinner with the family and was discussing the day's events. Earlier that day I had pulled some trail cameras off a property I was monitoring. I used trail cameras quite a bit back then, not only for hunting purposes but for work projects as well. For those that are unfamiliar with trail cameras, they are motion activated cameras that are strapped to the base of a tree to capture animals as they walk by, they're even capable of capturing photos at night with their infrared capabilities. Given my job as a wildlife biologist, seeing what kind of animals frequent an area is quite useful at times and always enjoyable.

I shared with the family what kind of animals I had captured on film that week, mostly deer and an occasional gray squirrel. I even had a couple of coyotes show up one night. The two trusty ol' cameras I used now lay in my garage eagerly awaiting their next deployment after having received a fresh set of batteries.

The  meal-time discussions continued. With a little nudging on my part, the conversation soon turned toward the Christmas holiday and what kind of presents my boys were hoping for. I figured it was always good to solicit that kind of information well in advance to prevent a mad scramble come Christmas Eve. As one would expect, my boys' list was full of toys and gadgets and not a single request for world peace and harmony. Oh well, 10 and 7 was still a little young for altruism. After all there were no differences in the world that a good nerf gun couldn't settle, especially the Elite Hyper-Fire Blaster, a 20-round, battery-operated, super-sized, revolver-like nerf gun. Though my boys could make me pull my hair out at times, they were really good kids and even though money was tight, I was determined to give them a great Christmas. The toy conversation droned on and I could tell my boys were really looking forward to Santa's impending arrival. Then it happened.

My ten year-old dropped his fork mid-bite. It clinked off his plate as it landed on the table. He looked up wide-eyed, mouth gaping. At first I thought something was dreadfully wrong.

Then I saw a huge smile begin to grace his face, then he screamed...

"Trail cameras!"

I could see the tiny gears in his mind formulating a fantastical joyous thought. Something was making him insanely happy.

"Dad!!" he shouted, "Do you still have the trail cameras?!?" 

"Yeah...they're in the garage. Why?" I asked.

"Trail cameras!" he screamed again.

"That's it! We can set up trail cameras over our Christmas tree and catch Santa in the act when he comes!"

I believe my fork made the exact same noise. It was my turn to sit there wide-eyed with my mouth assuredly agape.

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I took a deep, yet difficult, swallow.

"Ummm..."

"That's a great idea son. Where did you get it from?"

"You Dad...when you were talking about the trail cameras and then you mentioned Santa! I just put two and two together."

"Ha...I did mention both of those things, didn't I? Yer' pretty clever...ya' know that kiddo?"

What I really meant to say was "You're too clever son. Gosh darn it, you're too darn clever!"

"So can we do it?' he eagerly chimed. "Can we set one up over the tree?"

"Yeah Dad...can we do it?" my quiet-up-until-then seven year-old piped in.

Another difficult swallow.

"Sure, I don't see why not." I said, with a half-hearted smile.

I smiled and turned my head down toward my plate. Dang you Honey Dew! You were supposed to keep them in line!

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Sleep didn't come easy those next few weeks. How was I going to make it through this one?

What if the camera doesn't catch Santa?

What if my son's dreams and fantastical ideas were dashed?

What if both my boys lost that wonderful Christmas spirit they both shared?

What if their Christmas is ruined?

Well, by gosh...it looked like we were just going to have to capture Santa in the act!

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On the eve of the Eve, December 23rd, I helped my sons set up one of my trail cameras on the side of the fireplace overlooking the Christmas tree. The span on the motion detector covered the entire living room. Nothing...I mean nothing was going to move in that room without having their picture taken. It was a child's dream come true. I, in the other hand, was in the midst of a worried nightmare.

Needless to say, I didn't get to sleep until 4:00 a.m. that night. There were countless takes and retakes, constant resetting of the date and time stamp. Pictures too clear. Pictures too blurry.

And all I had was a red Santa's hat.

When it was done, I was exhausted. 

I removed the SD card where the pictures were stored and tucked it away in a safe place. I then collapsed on the couch.

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The next morning, Christmas Eve, my boys were ecstatic. They told all their friends of their "master plan". If all went well, then that night they'd have proof of Santa delivering the goods.

I don't believe anyone slept solid that night, fortunately the boys slept just long enough for Santa to work his magic, even if his most special trick involved the unseen switching of SD cards. The next morning, the thunderous banging on my bedroom door woke up half the neighborhood.

"He came! He came! Santa came!"

Within the blink of an eye the whole family was downstairs in the midst of presents strewn about everywhere. Surprisingly enough, there was no mention of any cameras.

The wrapping paper began to fly. It was as if there was an NYC ticker-tape parade in my living room. The boys were giggling and showing off their new gadgets and just when the last piece of paper came to rest, they both screamed in unison..."The camera!!!"

That's when I finally stepped in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...hold your horses there guys. Go get me the camera, but whatever you do, don't get your hopes up. Little boys and girls your age have been trying to get a glimpse of Santa since time began and he's always outsmarted them. No one knows how he does it...he just does. So don't be too surprised if you didn't catch anything on camera, you boys still had a wonderful Christmas." 

I removed the SD card from the camera and handed it to my oldest son.

"Now go pop this in the computer and see what we got."

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You could hear the screams from two towns away.


Here are the unaltered pictures from that oh so famous night... Enjoy!!!

Two excited little boys check the camera and tree one last time before turning
 in for a restless night's sleep. Notice the time...ten minutes before midnight.

Some emerges from the fireplace!! It almost looks like a large coat
sleeve hold some sort of giant bag. (The lights are off, hence the crazy exposure.)

Daddy heard something rustling around downstairs and came to check on things.
Whatever was coming out of the fireplace disappeared so as not to be seen.

Somebody is standing by our Christmas tree at 2:53 a.m.!!!!

OMGosh...is that who I think it is?!? I can't believe we got a pic of him!!!

And when he was gone, an empty plate of cookies and presents were all that remained.

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This truly was one of the best Christmas's ever. There I was, worried about delivering the best Christmas ever to my boys, and in return, they delivered to me the best Christmas I had ever had! It wasn't until many years later that my youngest son asked me why Santa was wearing my hiking shoes. :)