Santa Claus does lots of toys, but hope is the real gift  Of
course I know Santa Claus. He and I had Mexican the other night.
Santa ran late because he had a gig, but he was still jolly,
with bright red cheeks, twinkling eyes and a big white beard.
Santa's always jolly. The long hair is a pain, the red suit
constantly needs cleaning, it's hot in there and babies have
been known to leak.  Santa smiles on. "It's the closest I'll
ever come to being a rock star," he said.  In the beginning,
Santa loved children's fascination. He was in Japan and they
were amazed at his beard. They didn't speak English and Santa's
Japanese, sad to say, is iffy, but they'd chatter away.  In
Utah, Santa found broader meaning.  Many children don't need
presents, he said. They need hope. That is especially true when
Santa visits children at Hill Air Force Base. They always have a
tough request: Bring mom or dad home from the war.  "That's a
real challenge, because they're videotaping that to send to the
people over there," Santa sai