(It would be four, if Santa’s were not plastic. These are Timmerman, Vic and journalist Austin Tice, all with similar beards within the Damascus time zone, though Vic’s was in 1980. Times change?)

Busy morning, for an Advent Sunday. Rocket’s phone had bounced off the concrete corner of the HQ entrance near where that person upstairs parks their Dodge Charger. It is red and still has wheels, unlike Colin’s car over in Shirlington. But more about that in a sec- Kristina said she would scooter by there on the way over and see if it was still on the hubs.

Melissa was in an uproar and shared it before fully unwrapping two layers of soft knitted garments of rich green and red. “Travis Timmerman was found alive in Syria yesterday when those when thousands of prisoners were released from Assad’s torture jails!”

She got settled slowly into the ergomatic chair by the window “Timmerman is a cute guy- striking- and his story is awesome! He says he was detained while traveling visa-less on a remote part of the mountainous Lebanese border near the Golan Heights. He was on a pilgrimage to Damascus.”
Rocket came back in from the Patio where the now-waning moon blob had disappeared in the west. “Freaking Army-NAVY Game. First sports I’d seen in a while, so the emotion and spectacle are amazing. I mean, a QB draw in the 4thquarter for 48 yards? Then the transition stuff like it was an inauguration or something.”

Melissa was not going to be deterred though, since she found the story moving in a way not fully understood by the Boomers. The idea of seven months in a Syrian jail while simply attempting to walk overland to the ancient city where Solomon and David ruled.

“After release,” she said with determination, “Timmerman was found wandering the streets of Damascus by locals. At first ,he was mistaken for missing American journalist Austin Tice. More on that as the search goes on,” she said, apparently hoping to get a boost from an “in passing” to a feature note with compensation.

“But the pilgrimage thing seems quite literal, not descriptive. Timmerman’s family had no clue he was in Syria. They were struck by what they called “a Christmas miracle.”

There was general agreement on that as Kristina came in with an image she got of Colin’s car on the way over.
That is what DeMille decided was the tag line now, which is to ensure you install at least one locking tire lug on both sides of late model Toyota Corollas on the Columbia Pike in the Fifteen Minute County. We recommend all four wheels, you know?

You would hate to get stranded on the way to someplace important!

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www.vicsocotra.com