I have been in Prague for two weeks now, but I still find myself perpetually exhausted. And I have little to no excuse for it.
Jet lag: supposedly only lasts a day.
Time zone difference: there have been two weeks to adjust.
Late nights: I'm in my apartment by seven each night.
Extensive schedule....let's go with that.
One of the categories we must shoot for is titled "Morning Glories," and is based on photos taken during the A.M. This must some cruel joke...except not at all.
I halfheartedly recognize the opportunities offered by early mornings--soft dawn light, a haze still rising up over the city and landscape, and various states of slumber among all the passerby. Some rising to fuel their daily coffee addiction, others hoping for a spot on the crowded 26 tram lines, while still others, manage to sleep idly away in a brightly lit park, amidst women walking small, yappy dogs and men avidly biking to work.
Meanwhile, further into the urban landscape of Prague, near Wenceslas Square, commuters and morning folk race to work and account for metro and tram closures. A woman walks her two children to school, and their hands form a chain as they cross the street. While some are already at work. A window washer swipes the moisture away from the glass storefront of Dolce and Gabbana, while two painters address the chips of paint missing from a brown store awning. Another duo begins to open a stand that will distribute books and novels to the interested reader, while a florist begins to display put-together bright bouquets.
The morning offers a new day, the start to a new adventure or a new job or a new conversation with a new someone on the metro. Various states of slumber are shaken off with a cup of espresso, or with the sights and sounds of Old Town Square, or with the panic of missing your tram. And slowly, we all begin to awake. We begin to see what the dawn brings, we begin to utilize time, and we begin to live.
