Lilly Pilly-Take Me Back

Drawn there by her beauty, her soft pink nose haloed with freckles, so many that they seem to drip down her front legs, settling on her knees and dancing above her dainty hooves. “Du bist so schön wie eine Blume” —“You are as pretty as a flower.” Our German teacher’s words came rushing back. It is perhaps the only phrase that has stayed with us all these years and it took Lilly Pilly‘s arrival to remind us why.

But Lilly Pilly is more than a reminder of the past. Born a twin, her mumma did not have enough love or nourishment to share around. And so human kindness stepped in, where Mother Nature could not.

Lilly Pilly’s eyes, we soon discovered, were not squinting from the sun or our joyous gaze, but from entropion. A condition often found in the dehydrated, where the eyes become sunken and eyelids fold inward, the lashes then scratch at the fragile corneas and ulcers can form.

But that was then, and this is now. Today, Lilly Pilly is bright-eyed, hydrated and zooming toward wholeness. Guided there by fluids, care and love. She has found her tribe in Baobab and Jacaranda, and she delights in snuggling into our arms. We’re still not quite sure who feels the greatest joy—perhaps it’s a draw.

As we zoom out from this scene of bliss, we are taken back to our childhood and are reminded of something simple—when we look to animals with kindness, we see not just who they are, but who we are meant to be.

To be deeply human is to be deeply humane. To celebrate life in all its wonder—as pretty as a flower.