Cowbirds.

Instead of staying local and sulking about my bum foot, I was kindly invited up to Tahoe for some much-needed R&R, or as Hulk stated, to "gain perspective." I packed bikinis, not a bike.  I packed wine and snack food, not bags of secret powder sports drink mix and tons of gummy chews and gels.

In other words, it was my most normal-person weekend I've had in a really long time.  And as much as I love training and working towards a big goal, it felt really good to just relax for once with Wolfie up in her cabin.

Now this is what I call gaining perspective!
 The view from our first open water swim at Sugar Pine.

Day 2. Open water swim at Bliss Beach.
And for the record, it was very blissful.

We slept in past 7am.

We s'mored.

The marshmallows were Hulk-size. Huge. And so awesome.

We swam.

Who needs an ice bath for my foot when I have the cold temps of Lake Tahoe?

We sunned.

Chambers Beach = Chambers Punch

I also learned a lot about birds.  Staying with Wolfie's family was really enjoyable and educational at the same time.  They had a lot of bird reference books, and even a journal where they recorded the birds they saw, the location, and the date.  Pretty spiffy.

During our time outside by the birdfeeder, Wolfie pointed out to me a cowbird.  Cowbirds will lay their eggs in other bird's nests and abandon their young to be raised by the other bird.  The worst part?  When the cowbird lays its eggs, it often 'kicks out' most the eggs of the host bird that were residing in the nest.  The foster mom ends up taking care of the new cowbird as one of its own, providing for it and nurturing it, even though it looks nothing like her.  Her own eggs and potential offspring were sacrificed as a result of this.

The Cowbird.

We were watching the host mom and the cowbird at the bird feeder.  The cowbird was twice the size of the host mom, and the thought came across my mind- "Didn't she know it didn't belong when she was sitting on an egg that was double the size of her eggs?"

This made me think about the thoughts and dreams that we all hold dear, protecting and incubating until they are ready to mature and hatch- and the Cowbirds we all have in our lives that dump their opinions and baggage into our 'nest.'  I think in any time of vulnerability (injury, loss of a job, relationship, etc), it is so easy to adopt the thought patterns of others and nurture them as our own, when really they are not consistent with the truth that we hold in our hearts.

I am challenging all of you to take a long hard look at the eggs in your own nest.  Make sure they are yours, not the opinions or long-lost hopes and dreams of the Cowbirds in your life.  Incubate, nourish, and love the eggs that you were meant to nurture.  The rest will fall into place.  Or out of the nest.