When does a new place ( to live) become familiar?
A question I asked myself,
When I first wandered this new city ( Brisbane).
Learning how streets connect,
Forming maps in my head.
Everything we did,
Was a first.
The first bus, train, ferry.
The excitement, the adventure,
The explorer within,
Making memories.
The first discovery of various "local"
Cafes and restaurants.
First sunrise, sunset,
Dusk and dawn.
First full year of seasons,
Even our dog on walks,
Discovering his firsts,
Creating new routes,
Making new friends,
Fur and human.
I have moved many times,
Needing to learn new maps.
The first moments on arrival,
Can make the mind feel scrambled,
Somewhat disorienting too.
This was no different.
The added exploring
The hilliest hills,
Reminiscent of that one day,
20 years ago;
Walking San Francisco city,
Almost every street,
Up and down hills.
One day, 9 months on,
Still discovering maps,
Forming them in my mind.
I connected the dots,
Of an early navigation.
Using Google maps and instinct,
Making my way home.
Just this week, two years on,
Of having called Brisbane home,
As I said hello, To our connections, And the community.
It brought back to me,
The question I had written
And the answer it is to be.
A place becomes familiar and home,
When there’s connections and community,
“Where everybody knows your name”
That Cheers song, so true.
And you know their names
Their kids and dog names too.
Here we are,
Everything feels familiar,
For the most part.
The awe of the surroundings,
Still alive with growth
Of that initial feeling.
The middle of the night
Curlew calls, not a disturbance,
As the first experience.
It is also familiar,
To our dog.
As he too has built
His fan base.
Of people he loves,
Routes he's explored.
It is rare he will deviate
From his two hand full of routes.
And if he does,
It surprises us.
He will seemingly have taken
A new way.
Only to find,
He has expanded an existing route.
He too,
Has connected the dots.
Built connections
And community.
Started: Wednesday, 2 April 2025
Finished: Wednesday, 5 August 2026
