One early morning last week, just before sunrise, I heard a strange sound as if someone was yelling in intervals. At first, I thought it was a cry for help, and then I thought, after all, it wasn’t the sound of a person.
I walked to the dining room window, and then I looked out to the street. Nothing to the right. Nothing straight ahead toward my neighbor’s house, and then I saw a sudden movement to the left beyond some bushes. The wind? A loose piece of rust-colored paper rolling onto the street? It was a fox, a red fox with his famous tail. It looked to its left and right and then, like an athlete, it ran along the road in a sudden dash, past the bushes, past my neighbor’s house, and then it ran past my window. I expected it to stop for a moment and wave hello.
I always feel sorry for foxes. They do eat berries, but they depend mostly on meat: mice, squirrels, birds and worms. It must be easy being a rabbit. It doesn’t have to work hard to find grass or clover, even twigs, bark, flowers and shrubs. But a fox has to hunt and hope there will be a meal just beyond the next rock or next patch of woods.
The quick visit of the fox running in the neighborhood has stayed with me these last few days: the movement of its tail, the way its legs moved in a gallop, the earth color of its fur. We preserve the image of things in our private memoirs, quick moments like the visit from the fox, and we also preserve forever moments: our wedding days, vacations, the memory of our children’s first day of school, the memory of the homes where we grew up.
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One of the great things about our culture is that we have established our collective public memories in our museums: works of art, dinosaur skeletons, pottery, Lincoln’s hat, the Wright Brothers’ plane.
The Dallas Museum of Art has a painting by Gustave Courbet, one of the most influential French artists from the 19th century. Courbet led the realism movement, abandoning the romantic painters and their idolized notion of the world. Courbet painted what we see and expected us to come away with our own sense of meaning from the snapshot of reality.
When you visit the Dallas Museum of Art, look for Courbet’s Fox in the Snow. As you look at the painting you might feel the cold air in your imagination. You will get to see the hungry animal devouring a mouse. There is nothing romantic about that image. It is an unsentimental moment of reality, and yet in that reality, there is beauty. There is always hidden beauty in what we see in our ordinary days.
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According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, “the entire red fox population of Central Texas probably descended from 40 foxes released between 1890 and 1895 near Waco.”
It seems as if one is hanging in the museum in Dallas.
In Paris on Dec. 25, 1861, Courbet wrote a Realist Manifesto, and in it, he wrote, “The beautiful is in nature, and it is encountered under the most diverse forms of reality. Once it is found it belongs to art, or rather to the artist who discovers it.” And, like Courbet’s fox, it also belongs to our collective encounters thanks to the DMA.
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PHILADELPHIA – It was evident in July and August that Dallas Goedert was going to be a big part of the Eagles’ offense in the red zone. It felt that way most summers, but this time, with first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo in place, the Eagles are dialing up plays for the tight end.
“I think when I get a ball in my hand down there, I’m tough to tackle, I can find my way in, fight my way in,” said Goedert. “It’s just that our red-zone philosophy has changed a bit. We used to run a lot, a lot of quarterback sneaks, things like that down there. We’ve tried to find ways to get me the ball, which is really cool, and I’m gonna keep trying to make them work.”
So far, Goedert has nine touchdown catches. According to NFL Research, five of his touchdowns were thrown behind the line of scrimmage this season, the most by a non-running back in the Next Gen era.
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“He’s such a physical guy,” said Patullo. “His determination to just get yards and have an impact on anything, whether it’s in the pass game, whether it’s gadgets, whatever it may be. He’s really dynamic with the ball in his hands. So anytime you can get the ball in his hands, obviously, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
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However, the touchdown math didn’t add up for Goedert. He thought eight was the magic number to break the record for most TD catches by a tight end in franchise history, owned by Pete Retzlaff, but Retzlaff had 10 in 1965, meaning Goedert needs one more to break that dusty, 60-year-old mark.
“I thought it was eight, but I was wrong, so I thought I already had it,” he said.
Reminded that he would have had it already had he not dropped a wide-open throw to him in the end zone on Sunday, which would have given him a career-high three in one game, he winced, then answered.
“Yeah, scars right there,” he said. “That one hurts.”
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Dallas Goedert Has Eye On Record
Dec 14, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert (88) walks off the field after win against the Las Vegas Raiders at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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With three games left, and with his heavy involvement in the red zone, it is reasonable to expect that the record will at least be tied, perhaps even broken.
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“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “Anytime you can break a record, obviously things are going well for you. Obviously, winning is the most important thing and I want to do whatever I can to help win. If they’re giving me the ball down there, I’m gonna try to score. It would be a cool thing to have.”
Goedert’s production in the low red zone is a reason the Eagles lead the NFL in red-zone success, converting close to 70 percent of their trips (25-for-36) inside the 20 into touchdowns. The tight end has nine of those 25 red-zone TDs.
“We’ve had different things for me in the red zone throughout my career here, a lot of them just haven’t got called,” said Goedert. “Once they started calling them, I tried to make sure they worked so they could keep designing and calling other ones. Any time you go in the huddle and hear that play, knowing you have the opportunity to get in the end zone, it gets you kind of excited, for sure.”
Nore NFL: Eagles’ Backup Staying Patient, Takes First-Team Practice Reps
The Dallas Stars start up a brief two-game road trip on Thursday with a game against the San Jose Sharks.
Here’s everything to know about the matchup.
Dallas Stars at San Jose Sharks
When: Thursday, 9 p.m.
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Where: SAP Center, San Jose
TV/Streaming: Victory+
Radio: Sportsradio 96.7/1310 The Ticket
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Bottom line
The San Jose Sharks host the Dallas Stars after Macklin Celebrini scored two goals in the Sharks’ 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames.
San Jose has a 10-5-3 record in home games and a 17-14-3 record overall. The Sharks have a 15-4-2 record when scoring at least three goals.
Dallas is 22-7-5 overall and 11-2-4 on the road. The Stars have a 12-1-2 record in games their opponents commit more penalties.
The teams meet Thursday for the second time this season. The Stars won the previous matchup 4-1.
Top performers
Jason Robertson has 20 goals and 20 assists for the Stars. Wyatt Johnston has scored five goals and added nine assists over the last 10 games.
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Celebrini has 18 goals and 33 assists for the Sharks. Tyler Toffoli has five goals and six assists over the past 10 games.
Last 10 games
Stars: 7-2-1, averaging 3.1 goals, 5.2 assists, 3.7 penalties and 8.9 penalty minutes while giving up two goals per game.
Sharks: 6-4-0, averaging 3.4 goals, 6.1 assists, 3.9 penalties and 7.8 penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Letters to the Editor — Christianity, Hanukkah, the ’60s, Indiana, Dallas Stars
Readers comment on a column about Christianity; remember being a Vietnam veteran in the ’60s; praise Indiana; and are critical of the Dallas Stars’ probable move to Plano.
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Stars defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok claimed off waivers by Bruins
The Stars had acquired Kolyachonok in a trade with Pittsburgh for Matt Dumba over the summer.
Dallas Stars learning old hockey adage — good things happen when you put pucks on net
The Stars have not outshot an opponent in their last five games, but started showing signs of improvement Monday against the Kings.
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett will introduce Dallas hip-hop collective Cure for Paranoia at its upcoming album release show in Deep Ellum, according to frontman Cameron McCloud. The Dallas Observer reported the news first.
“I just said I’d love for her to be at the show if she was in town,” McCloud said in a text message. “She didn’t even have to come up if she didn’t want to and she said ‘Oh no, I’m definitely getting on stage.’”
Crockett, a Dallas Democrat, catapulted into the national spotlight in 2024 after a tense exchange with fellow U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene at a House committee meeting. She has since been regarded as a progressive firebrand, frequently in the headlines for heated back-and-forths with politicians across the aisle.
Crockett also recently launched a bid for the U.S. Senate, promoting her campaign in an Instagram video with McCloud, who wrote a verse about her. He has posted new raps every day this year.
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“Who else willing to go toe to toe against the president?” he recited in Day No. 343’s verse, adding a later nod to Crockett’s viral remarks about Greene: “Texas tough don’t need no more bad built bleach blonde butch bodies moving forward.”
Crockett discovered McCloud through social media.
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“I started listening and thought ‘Man, he’s a genius.’ I was impressed by his ability to sum up what’s going on in under a minute and with accuracy,” she said in a statement. “Especially at a time when people are not listening to traditional news and the easiest thing to do is keep scrolling, Cure captures people’s attention. I was floored to know that not only was he a Texan but a Dallasite.”
Crockett, who has a penchant for alliteration in her speeches, teased a potential performance during her introduction. “I’m known to drop some bars from time to time so you’ll just have to be there and see.”
Cure for Paranoia’s show will be on Dec. 26 at Trees. It will be pegged to the group’s new album, Work of A.R.T., which is slated for release on Dec. 22.
Details
Tickets cost $30.35. 7 to 11 p.m. on Dec. 26. 2709 Elm St., Dallas. For more information, visit treesdallas.com/shows/cure-for-paranoia.
Romeo Santos, Prince Royce headed to Dallas on 2026 tour
They will be performing at American Airlines Center as part of their “Mejor Tarde Que Nunca” (“Better Late Than Never”) tour.
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Texas A&M sophomore Aiden Ross wins ‘The Voice’ season 28
The College Station native is studying industrial engineering at the university.
