The Man Morning is amazing on the playa. Early it's the quietest part of any day, just a low hubbub rising from the camps and roads. The sun, already brilliant, slants in under your shade structure to highlight the hallucinatory effects of your exhaustion. It's a good time to just sit and stare at things, a good time to be glad you brought a comfortable camp chair.

It's not long, though, till the activity picks up; the precious hours between now and, say, noon -- when it'll get too hot to do much -- are your best chance to work on costumes, your camp, or your art installation, tweak your instruments, get the dust out of the sensitive electronics, whatever.

You have energy now. Use it.