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N. Ray Maxie
"Rambling Ray" -
Stories of the Ark-La-Tex
Email:
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." |
Stories
of the Ark-La-Tex
|
Columns
(Monthly
beginning 10-2006)
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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