Si tu veux un ami, apprivoise-moi

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

So we go through the world, taming that which is wild, that which to us, imperfect humans catches our hearts in one imperceptible moment in time, with a glance, with a look, with pricked ears and intelligent eyes... and we begin to see that which to the eye is invisible; we begin to see clearly with our hearts, and then we know longing and love... and what is means to say goodbye.


...to me, you're still nothing more than a little boy who's just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I'm nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you'll be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world ... Nothing is perfect," sighed the fox. But he came back to his idea. My life's very monotonous,...I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it'll be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that'll be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat...
(from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

... and this big southern continent will always hold, for those whose hearts can see it, the last resting place of a dear dog, the grass on which he and his companion lay in the shade on hot days, smiling and happy, the creatures that held such interest for him and his sister, the places we played, the beaches we ran on, the breezes that were sniffed; it will always hold the furry and feathered friends we made here, still going about their animal business, perhaps with memories of some human, that to them is different among other humans - will they hold those memories, too? Only the heart can see them, and the sun will shine in our hearts, no matter how dark the weather...

...and so we say goodbye to Australia, to friends and to memories, memories that will grow in my heart, and we look towards England, to new friends, to a new home, to new creatures with whom we share the world... and our hearts - next post from Oxford, my friends!