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| Roast duck and the Civil War |
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| Coincidence? No, it must be karma
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 | | CENTRAL OREGONIAN | | Vance W. Tong is the publisher and editor of the Central Oregonian and a Beaver through and through. He can be reached at: vtong@eaglenewspapers.com |
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My folks will be travelling over the mountains this weekend to help me celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday on Friday - a day late, but we'll enjoy ourselves all the same.
And although we rarely have roast turkey at any other time during the year than Thanksgiving and Christmas, it seems like we're always contemplating a different main course for the holidays. Call it our little gift to the turkey population.
Anyway, before I realized the date of this year's UofO vs. OSU football game, my father and I were debating what we should grace the dinner table with.
"How about roast duck?" I suggested.
He agreed that would be a nice alternative.
Now before I go further, it should be noted that not only did I attend Oregon State University, but both my father and grandfather did as well. There's a long history of Tongs at the good ol' Moo-U.
My mother, on the other hand, having grown up in Springfield, attended the University of Oregon, as did her brother.
Two sides of the family, two different universities.
And although Mom isn't nearly as excited about the game as Dad and I are, when the Ducks win, my father endures a fair amount of teasing from my mother. Unlike Dad and I, she's much more subtle about it, usually not saying too much except making quacking noises when she walks by. An auditory reminder of who trumped whom that particular year.
So, about a week after having made the dinner menu decision, I realized that the annual Civil War football game was going to be on the day that we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. It seemed somehow prophetic that we would be having roast duck.
Call it a prediction, call it karma, call it whatever you like, but it suddenly seemed oh, so right.
Granted, it could be a long weekend if the Ducks win, but it will be worth it, because when it comes right down to it, I'm thankful to have my parents - both of them - around for the holidays.
Even if one of them is a Ducks fan.
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