Three Beautiful Things 01/02/16: Fire Alarm, Chicken in the Pot, Ducks' Game Feels Familiar

1. I don't usually get out of bed at 3 a.m., but when I do, it's because our apartment building's fire alarm is ringing. The Deke and I got the dogs outside. Fire trucks barreled into the apartment complex.  I'm not sure exactly what the problem was with the hot water heater in the next door apartment building attached to ours, but within about forty-five minutes the fire fighters rolled their hoses back up, took down the ladders, loaded up and left and we had hot water again in our apartment home about twelve hours later.

2. I'll figure out what to do with the chicken I cooked and the broth I made.  Mostly, I cooked it because the smell of chicken cooking is a sensory pleasure that makes me inordinately, if temporarily, happy.

3. I don't imagine many Oregon Duck fans want to be reminded of the good old days -- oh, you know, when Oregon surrendered a 29-10 lead in the 1992 Independence Bowl and lost to Wake Forest and other come from ahead losses the Ducks suffered over the years. At the level of belief, it's been hard for me to believe the Ducks' football success over the last several years -- is that really the University of Oregon playing in the finals of the college football playoffs? --, but, tonight, those good old days came back to me, the days of drinking from wine-filled and peppermint schnapps-filled boda bags with Terry and Roger and standing behind "the wall" in the part-filled Autzen Stadium (before it was remodeled) and suffering frequent losses, but exhilarating in the rare upset win (or tie). The Ducks' lack of depth at quarterback and center and shaky defense got exploited tonight. They surrendered a 31-0 halftime lead to TCU and lost 47-41. It felt familiar to me. It was a Ducks' experience I could believe, and, while I didn't enjoy their collapse, I did enjoy the way it transported me back to when I first moved to Eugene in 1979 and all the fun I had being a Ducks' fan when they were a run of the mill program with few expectations, a lot of afternoon games, inexpensive tickets, and when a Ducks' win was a thrill, not something we fans felt entitled to.
.