The Mig and Kris Blog

The place for words.
Longer form thoughts and ideas

Why?

September 13, 2020

You have probably asked yourself the above question countless times about a near infinite number of different actions, topics and even clothing choices. If you’ve come across our content you might have even asked yourself “Why do they do this?” That’s easy to answer, we do it for a variety of reasons. We do it to keep wildlife safe from our trash, to pay respects to the land. We try to reduce the amount of waste and use what we can, we do it to keep some beauty in the world. We do it to ensure we spend quality time together outside in these confusing and busy days. They may not be the answers you were looking for; they might even be disappointing. There may be the possibility that your question is more specific. Maybe your question is along the lines of “Why do this when the world is falling

The X-Files predicted the Living Planet Report 2020 results

September 13, 2020

By now, most people have heard about WWF’s 2020 Living Planet report.  It unequivocally told us that species are dying out, biodiversity is at an extreme risk, and yes, it is our fault. The report states that wildlife population sizes have had an average decline of 68% since 1970, 75% of the earth’s land has been significantly altered, the majority of the oceans are polluted, and 85% of wetland areas have been lost. It presents some pretty damning evidence that we are harming our environment and animal/plant species at unprecedented rates.  Did you also know that the X-Files touched on this topic in an episode called Fearful Symmetry (Season 2: Episode 18)?  Me neither! Since Covid-19 has put a tiny damper on my social life, I’m watching X-Files for the first time ever and, much like climate-change, I’m watching it at a rapid rate.  Yesterday I was watching it and

Trash TV is connected to picking up trash: an environmental analysis of Real Housewives of NYC: S12 E21

September 5, 2020

AN ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS OF AN EPISODE OF REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK (S12 E21) I have some interests that may seem kinda incongruent with my interest in the environment and nature.  Namely, I love trashy tv.  Trashy tv and picking up trash are probably somehow in some way loosely connected though.  Here I try to justify watching the Real Housewives of NYC season 12 finale twice by providing an “environmental analysis” of the episode. SONJA’S PLASTIC SURGERY: Sonja looks great in her home talking head interviews. She’s glowing and the pink is amazing on her. However, Ms. Morgan has definitely had some tasteful plastic surgery since the original footage was filmed. I’m not here to shame anyone for doing what they want to feel beautiful. However, the healthcare industry is a massive cause of pollution so adding to that with elective and totally unnecessary surgery is just not cool.  Healthcare

“Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul”

September 2, 2020

I hear about ice caps melting, temperatures risings, natural disasters scaling up in magnitude and frequency, wildfires burning, and piles of garbage and recycling being moved from one continent to another. I care about the environment and I feel an anxious pit of worry and doubt when I think about the future.  For the last 2 years I volunteered with a local nature group writing grant applications for them and helping out at speaking engagements.  Even though my applications resulted in a handful of grants and projects still active today, it did not feel like enough and I struggled to see how what I did helped or even addressed these big problems.  It wasn’t until I organized a clean-up in the city last year that I felt like maybe I was doing something concrete and good, even at a very small scale.  Seeing the big bags we filled with cans,

Ghost Fishing

August 30, 2020

I often see glimpses of my favourite colours in the distance when we are walking along the beach…pretty shades of bright or faded blue and green poking out of the sand and waving to us in the wind.  We try to dig them out of the sand and pry them out from between rocks to keep them from returning back to the sea where they came from.  These bits of rope and netting are referred to as ALDFG, abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear, and are a huge source of marine litter. Approximately one-fifth of all fishing gear in Europe becomes lost at sea due to weather conditions, accidents, marine-life entanglements, or abandonment. It is estimated that there are approximately 11,000 tons of ALDFG found in European waters annually making up about a third of all marine litter in Europe.  Worldwide, it is estimated that there are approximately 705,000 tons of

Oceanic Artisanship

August 27, 2020

The 6am cacophony stirred us from sleep. The cacophony of course was pre-programmed by me, to ensure I continue with the effort of waking at 6am. The weather was not kind today, dull grey skies and the ever present threat of rain. This is Ireland after all. We agreed to continue our pre coffee ritual and head straight to the beach to walk our comrade and do a quick beach clean. We decided to visit a different part of the beach than our usual haunt. We had visited the day before but did not bring bags large enough to gather some of the rubbish. This morning however we arrived prepared, I would not walk away defeated by this trash a second time. My two main rivals were a large clump of material (likely it was once a tent but was reduced by the recent winds) and a large green plastic

Dusty’s new saddle

August 26, 2020

Quick update on Dusty, she now has a bed we can pack away in the boot. Karl is not the biggest fan of it, but he’ll get used to it. Here we are waiting for a mattress. The bed is much like me, rough around the edges and needs improvement. But it does what it needs to. It’ll also allow for improvements as we figure out what we want and as my skills improve too. We look forward to our first adventure with it. -M

Sometimes doing what you can is worth being tired.

August 26, 2020

This morning we continued our attempts to get up early (well we consider 6 am early) to have a less stressful morning with time to relax before the rest of the world begins it’s daily cycle. We decided last night that we would go back to the strand to walk comrade Karl and do a quick beach clean. Storm Francis was still blowing past us when we made the decision, so we did not expect much for the weather. As the alarm went off we I had the same conversation with myself that I often have at this time of the day: “Just another half an hour, we’ll still have time to do what we planned”. However, like most mornings ( though, not all as I’m only human and barely that sometimes) I decided to deny myself sleep and try to stick to the plan made for the morning. I

Revelry and Respect (or lack thereof)

August 24, 2020

This week we awoke with the sun to clean a local waterfowl reserve. This may sound fancy, but to all Corkonians it is known as the Lough and it is not so fancy. A freshwater lake home to various fish and obviously ducks, geese and swans etc. The majority of its visitors are not wholly interested in the waterfowl. There is a path of 1.1 km that is popular with runners, joggers and walkers. It is a much needed green refuge in the mix of grays and faded pastels that is the city. On the rare days of decent weather (and especially the rarer days of great weather) its surrounding green space filled with guests of all ages. Some are there to kick a ball around or get some exercise, some are there to enjoy a brief respite from their busy lives and others are there to revel. I take

Welcome to our Blog

August 24, 2020

Thanks for coming by. While social media is an amazing way to put out a message and release content. The very structure dictates that your message must be brief and your content heavily engaging in a short amount of time. This bothers me somewhat. My mind is filled with words that need to get out somehow, as such they will be released here. We will post our thoughts ideas, reflections on the days events, the rubbish we find etc. Not all messages can be said in soundbites, and some ideas are very grey and need discussion. So grab a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy your reading. -M-

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