Thursday Morning Shenanigans, Farmer’s Markets, & Not-So-Fall Weather

Content Note: Disability, chronic illness, heat illness, exhaustion, emotional heaviness, survival, community care, and the realities of navigating life when your body doesn’t always cooperate.

🏡 Welcome Back to the Den

This is The Crippled Cryptid.

And Thursday is the day we leave the porch light on.

Not because everything is fine.

Not because everyone is thriving.

And definitely not because anybody needs to show up here with a polished little report about how wonderfully they’re handling life.

Thursday is for checking in.

For taking a breath.

For asking the question we don’t always get asked often enough:

How are you, really?

This Den has never been just about me.

It started with my stories.

Then came the health updates, the adventures, the writing, the folklore, the dogs, the Bed Jail™ broadcasts, and all the strange little corners that grew around them.

But somewhere along the way… people started pulling up chairs.

You started telling me about your lives.

Your good days.

Your terrible ones.

Your tiny victories.

Your losses.

Your weird little joys.

Your “I survived today” moments.

And I realized something.

This place isn’t just a blog anymore.

It’s a Den.

And a Den is supposed to have room for people.

So, every Thursday, we check the locks, put the kettle on, make sure the porch light is working, and see how everybody is holding up.

Luna is usually supervising.

She’s very serious about hydration.

Binka is usually doing something that makes absolutely no sense but makes somebody laugh.

M&M is somewhere nearby asking whether everyone has what they need.

The Yard Yeti is probably at Home Base, contributing to the Den through snacks, Wi-Fi, and the occasional deeply questionable commentary.

And me?

I’m here.

Still figuring things out.

Still living in this haunted meat suit.

Still learning that surviving isn’t the same thing as failing.

Still trying to remember that rest counts.

Still writing.

Still laughing.

Still making room.

So… come sit down.

You don’t have to have good news.

You don’t have to have bad news.

You don’t even have to know how you feel yet.

Just be here for a minute.

The porch light is on.

🌿 What’s Carrying Me This Week?

If you’re reading this, then you already know how this goes.

I got up at 4:30 in the morning to take the Yard Yeti to the market, came home, and went back to sleep for a little while.

By the time you’re reading this, I will have gotten up.

Maybe I’ll have taken a shower if I’m feeling bold.

The dogs will have gotten breakfast.

They’ll have gone outside to potty.

And I’ll probably be on either my first or second cup of coffee.

What M&M doesn’t know isn’t going to hurt her.

She tries to keep me to one or two cups of coffee a day.

I know it’s supposed to be for my own good.

But there are some days that simply require more fuel than others.

Depending on how I’m doing, maybe I’ll get M&M and the dogs in the car, and we’ll head over to the farmer’s market.

Maybe we’ll go see BJ.

Maybe we’ll pick up some veggies and other things since last week’s market trip didn’t exactly turn out the way I wanted it to.

Last week wound up being heavy.

Instead, I took a shower, went by myself, put on some loud music, and tried to just relax.

Because sometimes… that’s what you need.

You know?

So, this week, I’d really love to take the dogs.

We’ve only got a couple more weeks of these Thursday markets left, and we haven’t taken them many times yet.

I took Luna the week before we got Blitzø, before surgery.

But Binka hasn’t gotten to go many places yet.

He’s been home.

He’s been to the vet.

He’s been in the car a few times.

He’s gotten a couple little walks.

But I think he’d really like to go on a sniffy little adventure around the farmer’s market for an hour.

And I know your resident ghoul would love to find out whether Garlic Underground is there because I have been craving their black garlic seasoning.

We put that stuff on everything and anything when we can get our hands on it.

And honestly?

I’m not even sorry.

The rest of the week, aside from that, should hopefully be fairly quiet.

Assuming the doctors call me back.

Or don’t.

Because apparently that is sometimes how scheduling works in the Cryptid Kingdom.

Either way, I’m hoping for a little quiet.

And I hope you get some, too.

I hope you’ve had a pretty good week.

Or at least a survivable one.

And I hope the heat stays away.

Because if it doesn’t?

You already know these dogs aren’t going anywhere.

☀️ Heat Is Not A Game

Monday was a mix of hot, humid, and rainy.

Tuesday rained in the morning, and then it got hot as hell, humid, and we got a heat advisory.

Wednesday was much the same.

Which meant the dogs got to stay inside with the AC, go outside for short stretches, play in their dog pool, and receive an absolutely unreasonable quantity of frozen doggy treats.

Because around here, we don’t play with heat stroke.

Not for the humans.

Especially after that was me last Friday and Saturday.

And definitely not for the dogs.

It’s about staying safe.

Staying hydrated.

Paying attention to what our bodies are telling us.

And doing what we can.

Even when that means we don’t always get to do the things we wanted to do.

Sometimes the safest choice is the boring choice.

Sometimes the adventure is cancelled.

Sometimes the farmer’s market has to wait.

Sometimes the dog pool and the air conditioning are the whole itinerary.

And that’s okay.

🐄 Meanwhile, Binka Is Apparently Growing

Speaking of doing things…

We need to talk about Binka.

Because he’s 14 weeks old today.

First of all…

How?

Second of all…

Oh my god.

Third of all…

This puppy is getting SO BIG.

He’s getting smarter.

He’s getting braver.

He’s learning.

He’s growing into himself.

And yes… when I realized that another Thursday had gone by, and that we’ve officially almost passed two months since my surgery and since bringing this ridiculous little cow into our house…

I 100% cried.

Because what the hell?

How did we get here already?

It feels like yesterday that he was a tiny spotted Potato with oversized paws and absolutely no idea what he was doing.

Now he’s still a tiny spotted Potato with oversized paws.

He just has more of them.

And more opinions.

And more volume.

And somehow even less understanding of personal space.

He’s growing.

I’m healing.

The seasons are changing.

Time keeps moving whether we’re ready for it or not.

And sometimes that’s beautiful.

Sometimes it’s terrifying.

Sometimes it’s both.

🏡 Before You Wander Back Into the Woods…

Take a few things with you.

Drink some water.

Eat something if you can.

Rest before your body has to demand it.

Let someone help you if they’re offering.

Do one small thing that makes you happy.

Celebrate the tiny victory.

And remember:

You don’t have to make your life look impressive for it to be worth having.

Sometimes the biggest thing you accomplish today is getting through today.

That’s enough.

And if this week has been particularly heavy…

you don’t have to carry all of it tonight.

Set some of it down.

Let somebody else hold a corner.

Let the dogs sit beside you.

Let yourself be cared for.

That’s not weakness.

That’s what having a Pack is for.

Luna will keep watch.

Binka will probably make an absolutely unreasonable amount of noise before falling asleep somewhere inconvenient.

M&M will ask if everybody has what they need.

The Yard Yeti will probably be somewhere nearby insisting that he is not involved while being extremely involved.

And I’ll be here, too.

Because this Den isn’t just mine.

It never was.

Every story you tell.

Every comment.

Every “me too.”

Every little victory.

Every time you show up when you don’t feel like you have much to give.

You add another chair.

You make this place fuller.

So, thank you for being here.

Thank you for letting me be here with you.

And thank you for remembering that sometimes survival is quiet.

Sometimes healing is slow.

Sometimes joy is tiny.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is drink some water, eat a snack, curl up somewhere soft, and wait for tomorrow.

There is no shame in that.

There is no failure in that.

There is still life in that.

So, until next Thursday…

keep the porch light on for yourself.

You deserve to know how to find your way home, too.

Love you.

Now say it back.

– Sky

© The Crippled Cryptid

Disability. Chronic illness. Dogs. Community. Survival without the performance.

🐾 Luna says: Drink your water.

🐄 Binka says: Do the happy thing.

🏡 The Den says: There’s always another chair.

🔗 https://linktr.ee/skylanarissa

No pressure to donate.

Reading, sharing, and existing alongside me is already enough.

If you want to support the long, unglamorous work of survival, mobility, and building a life anyway:

💜 https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-skys-journey-to-health-and-mobility

The porch light stays on.