A Happy Possum and a Melbourne Lemon Tree

by Yan Dong

Some mornings in Melbourne begin with a single ray of light through the lemon tree. The leaves glow, the small fruit hangs like lanterns, and somewhere among the branches a little possum blinks awake. That backyard was where OZZ POSSUM’s story began — and it is where its happiness still lives.

What a lemon tree taught OZZ POSSUM

People often ask me why OZZ POSSUM always looks so content. The truth is, it learned happiness from the lemon tree. A lemon tree never rushes. It grows quietly in a Melbourne garden, giving shade in summer and a gentle sourness that makes everything else taste sweeter. The little ringtail possum that inspired OZZ POSSUM lived the same way — unhurried, curious, and grateful for small comforts.

Finding happiness in a Melbourne evening

Happiness, I’ve come to believe, is rarely loud. It’s the warmth of a familiar branch, the hush of an evening in Carlton or Fitzroy, the smell of citrus after Melbourne rain. OZZ POSSUM carries that quiet joy wherever it wanders — from the laneways of the city to the leafy gardens of the suburbs.

When I draw OZZ POSSUM smiling beneath a lemon tree, I’m not inventing a mood — I’m remembering one. The possum that waited for me each night turned an ordinary Melbourne evening into a small celebration. So next time you pass a lemon tree in a Melbourne garden, look up. You might just find a little possum, happy as can be, reminding you to slow down and smile.