Prague 2011. Photo my own.

“Wake up and smell the coffee” was my first thought this morning.

The enchantment of dark, fresh-ground coffee beans percolated through to my conscious mind. Enticed, I rose eagerly to make my strong latte instead of hitting the snooze button.

When making coffee, there’s a particular moment I look forward to: the aroma of the beans when the top of the bag is unrolled–all that captured coffee fragrance escaping its imprisonment for the first time in hours!

It’s five seconds of mental vacation bliss as I hover my face over the bag’s opening, the gaseous contents rising over my face like steam. I could be anywhere: in a French café, on an Italian patio, beside Prague’s Charles Bridge (Karlův most, Praha), at a local Alberta coffeehouse with character.

Whatever the location, it should have sun and warmth–two elements that have been lacking in central Alberta because Spring has decided to be truant. Maybe it’s hard work keeping this place warm.

“Wake up and smell the coffee” is actually an idiom. With the A to Z Blogging Challenge taking place through the month of April and Prakash B. Hegade posting on the theme of idioms, I realized we’re still on the day of Letter W (April 27).

The thought of writing a blog post is another thing, besides the promise of coffee, that wakes my brain.

Meaning of “Wake up and smell the coffee”

The Cambridge British dictionary defines this idiom as, “used to tell someone that they are wrong about a particular situation and must realize what is really happening.”

The Oxford dictionary states, “Become aware of the realities of a situation, however unpleasant” (American, informal).

Merriam-Webster: “to realize the truth about one’s situation, to become aware of what is really happening” (US, informal).

Back to my coffee thought this morning: Wake up and smell the coffee. It’s daytime, like it or not! 

This is a job for coffee.

All the posts of the Official A to Z Blog Challenge theme: Components of Literature

V is for Verisimilitude

W is for Writing Wit