Thursday, December 25, 2025

Good Morning! On this day in 1871, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad reached Austin. Within the next five years, the capital city's population doubled.

Merry Christmas! Today is the one day of the year when our whole team takes the day off, so there'll be no Texas Flyover tomorrow. Our weekend editions will also be a bit shorter, allowing our staff to spend time with their families. The full Texas Flyover will return on Monday.

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Take The Flyover with you. Busy day? Listen to our daily 15-minute podcast while commuting, cooking, or walking the dog—your Flyover fix, anywhere.

Smart Freight Corridor Completed

A 21-mile stretch of State Highway 130 from Georgetown to Mustang Ridge has been designated the "Smart Freight Corridor."

Over the past two years, the nation's fastest highway has been equipped with sensors, cameras, and radars that monitor traffic conditions and relay that information to autonomous vehicles traveling the route. TxDOT partnered with infrastructure technology company Cavnue on the first-of-its-kind project.

Approximately 57,000 vehicles travel SH 130 daily, and a statement from the company indicated that officials are considering expanding the technology to portions of I-10, I-35, and I-45, "strengthening freight movement within the Texas Triangle."

Earlier this year, legislators passed a law requiring businesses operating autonomous vehicles to obtain authorization from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.

Cowboys vs. Commanders

The Dallas Cowboys visit the Washington Commanders in the first of three NFL division rivalry games today. The game will be broadcast on Netflix at noon.

The Cowboys (6-8-1) and Commanders (4-11) have both been eliminated from playoff contention. Dallas head coach Brian Schottenheimer indicated Monday he plans to start highly-paid stars Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, dismissing concerns about injury risks.

"We play a physical game," said Schottenheimer. "Everybody understands that. These guys, when they go out, they don't think that way. They play." Last week, Lamb tied Michael Irvin in accumulating at least 1,000 receiving yards for five consecutive seasons, and Prescott is chasing the league lead in passing yards.

The Cowboys will debut a uniform combination for the first time—arctic white helmets, navy blue jerseys, and white pants. Fort Worth native Kelly Clarkson will kick things off with a performance of her hit song Underneath the Tree.

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Thanks to all of you who submitted your Christmas memories. These are a few of our favorites.

➤ Georgia (Alleyton): My most memorable Christmas was in 1948. That year, I asked Santa for a bicycle and a doll the size of a real child. On Christmas morning, we ran into the living room to see what Santa had brought us. There was my brand-new bike with a life-sized boy doll sitting on it like he was riding it! But Daddy said, "Wait, I think I heard something on the roof!" So he led us out the front door, and we found presents Santa had dropped. It was magical! Daddy always made Christmas special for my sister and me, and he always taught us to remember the reason we celebrate and exchange gifts.

➤ Chuck (Richmond): I grew up in northeast Ohio. When I was a kid, we went to bed on Christmas Eve with nothing in the house. Overnight, Santa came and put up the tree and ornaments, filled the stockings, decorated the house, and put all the presents under the tree. I always wondered why my parents were so tired on Christmas Day.

➤ Jimmey McLemore (Southeast Texas): When I was in the third grade, we celebrated Christmas at our new house in Jasper, which was still under construction. It had outside walls, windows, and electricity, but it was only partially insulated and had no running water. Still, my dad was determined to spend Christmas in the house. After opening presents on Christmas morning, my mom made scrambled eggs and sausage with an electric skillet. We used two rolls of insulation and a sheet of plywood to make a table. That was 1984. Every Christmas since then, we've had scrambled eggs with chopped sausage for breakfast on Christmas morning. I'm married and have a family of my own now, and we still have the same breakfast every Christmas.

➤ Ken Marx (Fort Worth): My most memorable Christmas Eve was in 1999, when I visited Israel as a member of the Southwest Baptist Seminary Oratorio Chorus. That evening, we performed at a Baptist Church in Bethlehem and at the Jerusalem Civic Auditorium. Those performances were the culmination of a week of visiting many places where Jesus walked. I have never had another Yuletide like it.

➤ Annette (Cedar Hill): The Christmas (mis)adventure I remember most vividly occurred in the late 1940s when I was four years old. Our Christmas tree was decorated with lovely, bubbling lights and other glass ornaments. I'm sure I tried to leave the tree alone, but those lights were beguiling. So, when my mother was busy elsewhere, I pulled a chair over to the tree and climbed up to get a closer look. The chair and I toppled into the tree, knocking it over and breaking more than a few of the ornaments. My mother's reaction was predictable. I did not enjoy that prolonged timeout.

➤ Susan (Lubbock): My mother was born during the Great Depression and lived through World War II. As a result, she learned to be frugal, to the point that she would carefully open Christmas gifts so that she could save and reuse the wrapping paper. When my dad was between jobs one year, she couldn't buy a Christmas tree, but she was determined to make the holiday special for us children. She gathered tumbleweeds, sprayed them green, and used the carefully preserved trimmings (including tinsel icicles) to turn them into a lovely "tree." Under the tree were a few carefully selected gifts wrapped in that saved paper. She sewed new stockings using scraps of muslin, green burlap, and red rickrack. On Christmas morning, those stockings were filled with an apple, an orange, nuts, and a bundle of old-fashioned ribbon candy. There was also an inexpensive necklace for me and a toy car for each of my brothers. I was just old enough to remember and appreciate what she did for the family and how she made Christmas morning magical.

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