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| | N.
Ray Maxie
"Rambling Ray" -
Stories of the Ark-La-TexEmail:
piddlinacres@consolidated.net
"Tri-States is known by some as Three Corners, the place where three
state lines meet. The larger region known as the Ark-La-Tex includes Three Corners
and as the name suggests, portions of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas."
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Stories
of the Ark-La-Tex |
Columns
(Monthly beginning
10-2006) "Watermelons
Fresh and Fine. Watermelons Right off the Vine." 7-3-08Cheap
Gasoline; Oil and Gas 6-1-08 Patching
Pot Holes in the Dirt Road 5-1-08 Cultural
Shock Then. Cultural Shock Now 4-1-08 Ever
See a Cat Fish? Crawfish and Cats. 3-3-08 The
Rare Bird: A Modern Day Civil War Grandson 2-3-08 Running
Down A Road Hog 1-1-08 Holly
Isn’t Just For Christmas Anymore 12-1-07 “I
Now Thee Wed”, Half a Century Later…. 11-1-07 Uncle
Lee's Got the 'coon and Gone On. Gone On! 10-1-07 Errant
City Letter Brings Grave Concern 9-1-07 Hot
Rabbit Sets the Woods on Fire 8-1-07 Swimming
With Water Moccasins 6-30-07 Piddlin'
Acres, Rambo and the Ark-La-Tex 6-1-07 "I
Ain't Lying Officer" 5-1-07 Bull
Dogs and Strays 3-28-07 "Don't
Shoot the Bull" 2-1-07 Moving
Up To The Main Road 1-1-07 Preacher
and the Squirrel Hunt 12-1-06 "Get
the Epsom Salt. This Kids Got Dew Poisoning" 11-1-06 Strong
Teenage Desire to Make Money 10-1-06 Fine
Fishing on Frazier's Creek 9-14-06 Hurricane
Winds Stripped Decal From Patrol Car Door 9-1-06 Deadly
Explosion in the Oilfield 8-17-06 A
Country Kid's Thorn in the Flesh 8-1-06 Growing
up Wasn't Easy in the '40's and '50's…… And it Still Isn't Today 7-15-06
"Miss
$1.98" 7-1-06 Goodnight
Paw. Did You Turn the Rooster 'round? 6-15-06 Remembering
Uncle Jay Ransom 6-1-06 Don't
go Near the Water, Son, Until You Learn to Swim 5-15-06 Coalie
and the Speeding School Teacher 5-1-06 Kerosene
Stops Severe Bleeding 4-15-06 Lost
Maples Found 4-1-06 Encountering
an East Texas Mad Dog 3-14-06 The
Farmer's Daughters Picking Peas 3-1-06 A
Lady's Major Security Concern 2-14-06 Hatching
Green Head Mallard Eggs 2-1-06 Firewood,
Loaded or Unloaded 1-15-06 "Shadow's
In the Moonlight" 1-1-06 Mayo,
Leo and Cleo Clark, and the Polly Parrot 12-15-05 Death
on the Highway….
Running Red Lights Is Rampant! 12-1-05 Roughnecks
and Rednecks 11-15-05
Life in the oil-field in McCleod
The
Left Handed Twist-tie 11-1-05 The
Preacher's Kid and a Post Office Burglary 10-15-05 "Oh,
The Class of '57 Had Its Dreams."
McLeod High School Longhorns.......
10-1-05 The
Unforgettable Lightening Bolt 9-15-05 Is
Your Mule for Sale? 9-1-05
"This little story came to me several
years ago straight from the mouth of an elderly and very prominent Ark-La-Tex
area Baptist preacher..."
On
Moss's Mill Pond - Who Owned It? 8-15-05 A
Midnight Gasoline Credit Card 8-1-05 Interstate
Oblivion - An Arrogant Speeding Motorist 7-15-05 "High
Pockets" and a Near Death Experience 7-1-05 "Playboy"
Burns A Railroad Bridge 6-15-05 "Well,
I Should've Gotten up and Moved" 6-1-05
Safety talks. I love it.
"Mules"
5-14-05
Snaking Logs in East Texas Attention
All Officers, All Stations: WANTED FOR MURDER.........." 5-1-05
"...
I had to move quickly if I was going to have a good chance of intercepting this
murder suspect right here tonight..."
Uncertain, Texas, Caddo Lake and Cypress Trees 4-20-05
Just a mile or
more east of Jefferson in far northeast Texas and only a stones throw north of
Karnack, is the great mysterious Caddo Lake.
Rambo,
Texas 3-9-05
"...Rambo was an extremely rural community that began,
existed for some years and has now almost died out. It was, for a long time, a
totally Black community..."
The
Ark-La-Tex and Bogus Springs, Texas 2-1-05
The
Day Kennedy was Shot 1-16-05 My
Night at Bessy and Bud's House 1-1-05
An East Texas Tale of Puppies and
Mosquitoes
© N. Ray Maxie
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N. Ray Maxie
Autobiography
Ramblin'
Ray was born in the Ark-La-Tex not too long after the beginning of the Great Depression
there in Deep Northeast Texas. He says it has often brought both its blessings
and its curses. The depression was still in full swing for his family when he
was born and continued long thereafter. It taught people, especially in east Texas,
many things like discipline, frugality, patience and a great sense of family unity.
He says that they were so poor, they looked up to people on welfare. And not ever
knowing much prosperity or that better things abound, they never really realized
they were in a depression. There are people in areas of that region today still
in status-quo. Some have never fully recovered and never will. They are very complacent,
finding solace in knowing that "home is where the heart is."
During
the several years after completing high school really came the toughest times.
Ray unsuccessfully tried out for athletic scholarships at a couple of Texas and
Louisiana colleges. Many of his peers had to leave that area to find employment.
He worked three years for a homebuilder in Shreveport, Louisiana, while attending
the Louisiana Trades School. There he gained valuable knowledge and experience
in the building trades, marking time until becoming of age to apply for other
jobs. He also spent one year in Houston at a couple of other minuscule jobs. There
he had a significant experience in "cultural shock". Big Metropolitan Houston
had it for a young, greenhand, farm-fresh country boy from Deep Northeast Texas.
He couldn't take that for long. Remember, "You can take the boy out of the country,
but you can't take the country out of the boy."
In 1960, Ray was one
of only two applicants accepted from about 250 others at Tyler, Texas, for the
Texas DPS Academy in Austin. After successfully completing the very challenging
academy, he worked ardently for them for several years and became known as "Ramblin'
Ray"; the chaparral bird. Later on he accepted an assignment as Special Texas
Ranger. In that capacity his work took him throughout Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas
and often, Missouri and Illinois, doing loss prevention and claims investigations
for Texas railroads. It was also during those years that he attended East Texas
State University and night school at the University of Houston. Up until retirement,
he maintained status as an actively certified Texas peace officer.
Ray
found railroad work to be the most interesting and challenging. It involved a
great deal of travel, both by rail and by air. Working once in a "super" severe
winter ice and snow storm along the Mississippi River. It was a long assignment
at the gigantic rail yard in East St. Louis, IL. He also worked on location at
scenes of large train derailments and crossing accidents. Often Ray worked long
hours during extensive railroad labor disputes in Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois.
Later on, he spent several years as Transportation Officer with the Texas Prison
System.
Ramblin' Ray and wife, Jean, have two grown sons and three baby
grands. Jean was Ray's high school sweetheart and they both are from the "Class
of '57". Both are long time "public servants", now retired and enjoy volunteering
most any place, writing, public speaking, family (grandchildren) and friends.
They find pleasure in pets, especially in "Dixie" the Molly mule and "Turbo" and
"Robin" the Miniature Mediterranean Donkeys.
Ray is a long time dedicated
blood donor, now at 140 donations, totaling 18 gallons. He still donates regularly.
It all started helping an injured friend in 1962 and over the years, he hopes
that his blood donations have helped many injured and ill people recover and regain
a normal life.
Texas Escapes, John and Kate were discovered by Ray in
a most unusual and rewarding fashion. While researching Sanderson, Texas, and
planning a train trip there, John was most helpful and congenial. They are a God
send. Hats off to John and Kate, and their enormous project.
N. Ray
Maxie
January 17, 2005
N. Ray Maxie's articles have appeared
in:
Ezines:
USA Deep South - Ms.
Muscadine Lines - A Southern
Journal - Tn.
Open Minds Quarterly - Sudbury, ON. Canada
The Forward
Press - UK
Pen-point View - WVa.
Newspapers:
Conroe
Courier - Tx.
Atlanta Citizens Journal - Tx.
There are loyal
hearts, there are spirits brave,
There are souls that are pure and true;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.
- Madeline Bridges {Mary Ainge De Vere}
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