{"id":3450,"date":"2022-02-25T08:59:56","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T15:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/janetalcorn.com\/staging\/1364\/?p=3450"},"modified":"2022-05-27T13:15:11","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T20:15:11","slug":"ironwood-national-monument-weekend-coffee-share-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/janetalcorn.com\/staging\/1364\/2022\/02\/25\/ironwood-national-monument-weekend-coffee-share-27\/","title":{"rendered":"Ironwood National Monument (Weekend Coffee Share #27)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For the second week in a row, I haven’t been anywhere more interesting than my kitchen, so we’re going to relive a trip from last May to Ironwood Forest National Monument<\/a> (and, of course, engage in the usual silliness). But first: welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share<\/a>, hosted by Natalie the Explorer<\/a>! Grab a drink, take a seat, and let’s catch up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What’s going on in my life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

February passed in a flurry of… not a lot. I’ve been focusing on self-care: eating more vegetables and fewer cookies, exercising more, and slowing the pace of my life a bit. Apparently I am no longer 29. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dammit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news is, my stop-acting-like-I’m-29 program seems to be working. I feel better, and I’m losing a little weight, which makes my arthritic joints hurt less. Hopefully next year’s annual blood work will look better than this year’s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m slowly rekindling my enthusiasm for writing, which took quite a hit earlier this month (more on that in my next IWSG post, coming March 2). All in all, I’m in a better place than I was at the beginning of the month, so I’ll log that as a win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ironwood Forest National Monument<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

OK, enough about me. Let’s take a field trip northwest of Tucson to Ironwood Forest National Monument<\/a>. It’s not your typical national monument: there’s no visitor center, no paved roads, no services, and no tourists with overpriced hiking boots, fanny packs, and sun hats. Instead you get dirt roads, wild desert, and lots of solitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As you can guess from the name, the monument is inhabited by ironwood trees. Because I’m a huge dork, I managed to take a whole bunch of pictures at Ironwood Forest, yet not a single one includes a good shot of an ironwood, so I’ll share this one from the Bureau of Land Management’s Flickr album: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Public domain photo<\/a> from Bureau of Land Management via Flickr<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some fascinating facts about the desert ironwood tree<\/a> (Olneya tesota<\/em>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n