Ruby F. Rippy

Roseville, CA, USA

Ruby Fay Rippy was born Ruby Fay Groff on August 27, 1907, to Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Barton Groff in Missouri. Ruby has written poetry for many years, but more prolifically in the last 20 years. Her poetry has won two Gold Awards, 10 Gold Award Certificates, and three anthology books. Four poems were published in The Quiet Hour, and several in papers. She is an active member of The Seventh Day Adventist Church, and has been involved in the church for 50 years. Early on, she decided to take God as her mentor, and she would come out all right, and she has. Ruby has two sons, both with families, all of whom she loves dearly. She dedicates her poetry to God, her family, and many friends.

The Country Life

I'm so glad I was reared in the country,
And I thank the dear Lord each day,
For the knowledge I learned in plowing a field,
And helping to pitch the hay.

I also worked along with Dad,
And leaned to shuck the wheat,
I gathered corn in the wintertime,
To help buy shoes for my feet.

I helped to strip the cane in the field,
And hauled it to the mill,
To make it into sorghum,
And I can taste it still.

What fun I had with the one old mule,
Going around, and around, and around,
For there was a purpose in this you see,
For the cane stalks had to be ground.

Then we took the juice and boiled it down
And skimmed and boiled again
Then it began to turn to sorghum
And was no longer cane.

Now all these things I'm happy for
And would like to live them once more,
But of course, we had little of this world's goods,
But we wasn't exactly poor.

For we had a world of happiness,
And love for one another,
For Mother and Daddy raised five girls,
But we never had a brother.

And it seemed I had to fill the place,
For the boy Dad never had,
But as I look back, I have no regrets,
And for it all I am glad.

I'm sorry for most of the young folks today,
Who can't even milk a cow,
Or gather eggs from the old barn loft,
Or walk behind a plow.