Ruth Peterson Baker was a voluminous chronicler of her life and times with a restless mind interested in everything the world had to offer her. Beginning in 1922 at age fourteen and continuing until just days before her death at age 89, she wrote numerous journals and mountains of letters where she pours out her passion for the grand and the minuscule. Politics, religion, philosophy, literature, music, child rearing and farming were a few of her interests. Ruth was also an artist whose medium was primarily watercolor but also oil, graphite, charcoal, and pen and ink. Fortunately for us, Ruth also had a sense of humor. These are Ruth's words; nothing was added or changed except for clarification.