Early morning...

It's dark and cool. The possums are jumping around on the tree outside my kitchen window. Every now and then the leaves rustle. Dots of blue, red, yellow and orange, glimmer and speckle from distant buildings. The scenery looks beautiful, electric lights in the dark sky, a vast cosmos of colored stars. Proximity and distance. KW Sagitarii, KY Cygni, V354 Cephei - massive stars, 1500 times the size of the sun, so far away, still asserting some influenze. Constant hum and roar of the cars travelling towards Bolte Bridge, so many people up early going to work - going somewhere. It's a comfortable sound, at least I'm not the only one awake. A couple of things are circulating in my thoughts. I really like the fact that in aboriginal culture members of a tribe are referred to as brother, sister, mother, nan, even though they might be cousins or friends. The naming extends the family and brings others into the fold. Can I call you sister, dear friend, who lives so far away? We communicate almost daily and know so much about each other. Is this enough or do we really need the familial connection? Last night I watched Human Journey on ABC1, it's a documentary that traces the human voyage from Africa to Europe and Australia. According to population biologist Andrea Manica, modern humans arose in Africa about 200,000 years ago and then spread to other parts of the world. So, you could say that we are all 'out of Africa', genetically similar, distantly related. The dark lingers - sounds of the traffic have become heavier, lights in my neighbours kitchen have been turned on, a moth continues to hit it's tiny body against the fluorescent light. I should finish the novel Once Were Warriors, I've only seventy pages to read, I'll attempt to do that today if I'm not distracted by other things.