All I’ve been doing is getting ready for our trip to Hawaii this week. Taking these photos of the day has been a pain as I work through my arm’s length list of things to do before we can go. We have our GPS, the camera sensor is clean, I received my waterproof camera bag on Monday, had my sunglasses repaired, made arrangements for us getting to and from the airport, cleaned house, verified reservations, bought sandals, new contact lenses, shorts, mini-travel-shampoo, got my hair cut, did laundry, made arrangements to have our cat and plants cared for. All that’s left is to pack, print boarding passes, and buy some extra sunblock – weeeee.

Because desert, such as this increasingly rare bit of undeveloped wasteland, is so profoundly ugly and worthless, it is the goal of land developers in and around Phoenix to eliminate these boring sights. Look hard, can you see anything worth saving? That’s right, there is nothing here and so why not put cookie-cutter homes spaced a few feet apart so at the least all those people moving to Arizona won’t have to look at dried-up old cactus but will be able to look at their dried-up old neighbor. If you haven’t figured it out – I LOVE THE DESERT. I see tons of beautiful stuff out on this horizon. What I don’t see is property taxes offering politicians fat raises, or electricity being delivered to Saguaros and coyotes allowing local power companies to maintain quarterly profits. So, I am forced to accept that this is a fleeting view of nature that will soon be replaced by the short term greed and the desire of retirees to escape the crime of Detroit, the snow of Minnesota, the hurricanes of the Gulf Coast, and a vast midwestern swath of the population who are descending on Phoenix for jobs and cheap houses – yeah right, houses 65 miles from their jobs, welcome to your new commute.

Such is Life is a fourteen-year-old Mexican restaurant on 24th Street in Phoenix, Arizona. Better known by its Spanish name on the building, Asi es la Vida, Such is Life, was recently reviewed on a local food blog that sparked my interest. Gourmet Mexican cooking is a great pleasure but far removed from what most people know as Mexican food. Smoked jalapeno sauces (chipotle) to the classic spicy nut and chili sauce known as Mole, foods cooked or dipped in these savory flavors distinguish Mexican cooking from all others. We started with a melted cheese appetizer loaded with poblano chili and mushrooms which we rolled into steamed corn tortillas and dipped into the tomatillo and chipotle salsas. I tried a combo stew platter with a portion of pork slow-roasted in an orange-based sauce along with chicken slow-cooked in mole. Caroline tried the Pescado A La Veracruzana – unfortunately, Asi es la Vida is not very kindly towards vegetarians. For dessert, I had a very nice Tres Leches Cake (3 milks cake) while Caroline had the much better, even great, crepe with cajeta (goat milk caramel sauce). This cajeta we enjoyed especially as it was the envinada or wine version of the sweet sauce.