Monday 1 July 2013
Letter # 121
Dear President Obama,
I went to listen to a jazz band – 4 person – last night at an Elks Club in Roxbury MA. It was a rather dilapidated venue but the music was first rate, particularly the electric guitarist, Neal Itzler. http://www.berklee.edu/people/neal-itzler
He can range from jazz through blues into rock in a solo with verve and mastery. What a pleasure to listen to. Humans are capable of so much amazing creativity, it would be a shame to put so many lives in jeopardy by ignoring the urgent dangers of climate change. We need to reduce greenhouse gases immediately. Please stop the Keystone XL pipeline NOW. Please take a stance on climate change.
Thank you .
Susan J. Ringler, Electric Guitar Lover
Tuesday 2 July 2013
Letter # 122
Dear President Obama,
To lunch with friends and then hopping on a plane to California to go visit my kids. I’m thinking about how lucky I am to be able to fly across the country 3000 miles whenever I want to. I know it will be difficult to find alternative jet fuel, so we need to be cutting back on other fossil fuels as quickly as we can. So please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. It’s the right thing to do.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Jet Plane Passenger
Wednesday 3 July 2013
Letter # 123
Dear President Obama,
Well it’s sure difficult to see that there is something wrong with the climate here in Menlo Park, California. Clear skies, lovely flowering plants and shrubs, some of them wafting gentle fragrance into the air. It smells good here in the suburbs near Silicon Valley. And yet global warming and climate change are urgent problems. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. It’s dirty oil that we don’t need and that will make the planet less hospitable. Please stop it now. The science is clear, the problem is urgent. Please act NOW. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, 30 year Resident of San Mateo County
Thursday 4 July 2013
Letter # 124
Dear President Obama,
Happy 4th of July. I went to a barbecue with American friends. One came here from India to do her PhD and stayed. Another came from Australia, another has parents who are Danish and Taiwanese. Another speaks Persian with his Dad, from Iraq, and has a grandmother in Ireland. The strength of America is our diversity. For that healthy diversity to flourish, we need a stable and propitious climate. I’m very worried that we may have damaged the climate already a great deal. So for us and the future generations of immigrants to this great land, please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. It’s bad for the future of the planet.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Proud of Immigrants
Friday 12 July 2013
Letter # 125
Dear President Obama,
Well I skipped a week, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t thinking of you and that pipeline you need to stop! Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. It is so important for people to understand how dangerous climate change is. Your voice and actions would really help.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Anti-Keystone Activist
Saturday 13 July 2013
Letter # 126
Dear President Obama,
So the reason I went to California last week was not to see my family and friends, but to make Apricot Jam with Blenheim Apricots http://www.californiabountiful.com/features/article.aspx?arID=127
from an orchard in Saratoga. These are the best apricots I’ve found for jam with fabulous tangy flavor, and unfortunately this is the last commercial orchard of these Blenheims that I know of. They used to be grown all over Santa Clara valley but because of Silicon Valley, the land got too expensive for orchards. They moved the orchards to much hotter areas south and east and grow a different apricot – huge and beautiful and TASTELESS.
The apricots are at their peak around July 4th. I made 21 jars and gave 11 away to 11 different families in CA and brought 10 home here. I will eat it all year and think of the fabulous connection to the soil that nurtures them, the temperate climate, and the memories of the heady odors of perfect fruit as they boiled in my big jamming pot. Please stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Eat jam – hopefully homemade!
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Apricot Jam Maker
Sunday 14 July 2013
Letter # 127
Dear President Obama,
Today I go back to thinking about Susan Freinkel’s book Plastic. http://susanfreinkel.com/books_Plastic.html
It is not that plastic is an evil product, anyone who needs a IV bag is happy they were invented – and are made out of plastic. The problem seems to be that plastic is so cheap to produce that is it the “cheapest” way to solve most consumer goods issues: eye catching colored bottles for shampoo, large packages for DVDs, convenient one-serving drink bottles and pouches, snack packages from chips to power-bars (that are really candy), fruit and veg packages for freshness.
We use most of these things for a very short time and then dispose of them, most end in landfills, some are recycled, many end up as confetti in the oceans. So plastics are not “cheap” for the environment because they are difficult to bio-degrade. Let’s look at the big picture, oil and its byproducts damage the climate and the environment. We need less, not more oil. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline NOW. Show your strength of character. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Plastic Pollutes
Monday 15 July 2013
Letter # 128
Dear President Obama,
Yesterday was Bastille Day. I went to a street party on Saturday with dancing and French food, but it wasn’t nearly as much fun as in Paris. They have been dancing in the streets for Bastille Day there for ages and it’s really fun. We honor Bastille Day as the beginning of freedom from monarchy and oppression for France. It took a long time for a solid democracy to thrive there – but it now flourishes. Will this planet still flourish in 150 years? or are we causing irreparable harm by our Green House Gas emissions? Please take a small important step for us and future generations. Please say NO to the Keystone XL Pipeline. I’ll dance in the streets the day you do it! I promise!
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Bastille Day Street Dancer
Friday 19 July 2013
Letter # 129
Dear President Obama,
Well I missed another few days. During that time I joined a group of urban gardeners on a weed-out. https://www.cambridgema.gov/Water/freshpondreservation/getinvolved/volunteerwithfreshpondreservation/podpatrol.aspx
We have a local invasive weed called Black Swallow-wort, and if you can catch it before the pods burst, you can greatly curtail the seed spread. So off we went, along a chain link fence at Fresh Pond, a lovely pond that is also the water supply for Cambridge. We worked hard for 2 hours, got a lot of pods, but it is a daunting task. There is still much to do. It’s a bit like climate change: an incredibly daunting task! But we each need to try and make a difference, to inch us forward. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. You can do it today. Please don’t put off this important task. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Black Swallow-wort Pod Patrol
Saturday 20 July 2013
Letter # 130
Dear President Obama,
I’ve joined another interesting urban gardening group. This one is called the League of Urban Canners. http://leagueofurbancanners.org/
They have a database of fruit trees in Cambridge that are either on public walkways, or they have contacted the owner and gotten permission to harvest. Then they make jam and the owner gets 10%, the pickers 20% and the canners 70%. I found an Apricot tree nearby and was particularly interested because of my recent success making excellent jam in California from Blenheim apricots.
Well this was fun, but the fruit is not as flavorful, and so the jam was way more mundane. There are only a few apricots that produce fruit in the North East. They have to flower later. I’m not sure exactly which variety this backyard tree was, but it was a lot of work. Much of the fruit had scab on the outside, so I had to spend a lot of time cutting the fruit. It makes me appreciate my California jam even more. Let’s tend our garden, as Candide would say. Let’s tend our planet. Let’s not mess up the balance even more. Please say NO to the Keystone XL Pipeline. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, League of Urban Canners
