the Dusky Sparrow
My husband and I were out to dinner, and we were talking about what would make each of us happy in the New Year. We had just had a pretty rough year. Glenn had some health setbacks (which luckily, he triumphed over) and we were still dealing with the aftermath of putting a home back together after the storm. Our conversation started with Glenn and his bucket list dream to golf at St. Andrews in Scotland. We agreed that he would get there in 2024 and started to put that idea into motion. As for me, I shared with Glenn that I really wanted to have my own space where I could create and journal about the things that I was making. I shared with him that I had a strong desire to recreate things that I really loved, in the form of textiles. I explained my ideas to him and Glenn made me promise that I would do it in 2024.
That is something that I love about my marriage with Glenn. This year we will be married for 16 years, and while no marriage is ever perfect, I do think we share a special one. It is always on the top of our list to ensure that each of our own hearts get fed with what we need. And we understand that is different for each of us. We finished the night at one of our favorite spots overlooking the Magic Kingdom watching Happily Ever After while Glenn sipped on an Old Fashioned. Something we have done too many times to count, but this time, I felt a tiny spark had been lit.
True to myself, once I define a direction I am going, I dive in 110%. I once listened to a Podcast that described this cycle as someone called a multipotentialite (preferable) however Tik Tok tells me it’s either OCD or ADD (not nearly as lovely, but more likely to be the case) …so, it depends on what you listen to. Either way, it’s what I do. The following days were spent trying to find a name that I felt fit the many branches of my life. I was constantly asking both my son and husband their thoughts. I knew that I wanted something that had a tie to Disney but something subtle. Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE Disney. But probably not for the reasons you would suspect. While I find joy in almost everything here, what I really love is the inspiration and creativity that is all around you. The fact that someone thought up this whole entire world and actually made it happen!! I am obsessed with the attention to detail and the thoughtfulness behind everything. It is a utopia for the imagination and awe inspiring if you look around. I love the art within the resorts and parks, I love the culinary journeys you can travel, and I adore the fact that it all started with a drawing of a mouse. Walt Disney said “If you can dream it, you can do it” and …it’s true! Disney World to me, is nourishment for the creative soul.
As the days passed the idea for The Dusty Sparrow become clearer. I knew I wanted an online shop where I could curate fabric bundles and offer yardage. I also knew that I wanted a blog attached to it. Certain names having meaning to me, and I started there, with Sparrow. When it comes to a name, I like for there to be many layers of meaning and an element of sentimental-ness to it. Two years ago, when I made the choice to restore an old Morgan (a traditional tarpon fishing boat), I wanted everything to be very thoughtful. I knew that this boat would one day be a gift I leave for my son. So, I wanted to tie in elements that had meaning between the two of us. Brecken and I share a love for Pirates of the Caribbean. We have been watching those movies together for ages. My father loved them, too. I am from Lakeland, which used to be about a 30 minutes drive to Disney (traffic has made that a painfully longer drive, these days). Ever since Brecken was little, I would take him to the Magic Kingdom multiple times a week and it was always something we loved together. It didn’t matter how many times we were there in a week, we had to ride Pirates every single time. My son is also a boat Captain and he has a deep love for the sea. While there is a tie to Pirates, my love for birds is also a huge part of it, too. And upon learning more about symbolism, sparrows used to be tattooed on a captain’s chests. When they would head out to sea, they would have one sparrow tattooed on one side of their chest and once they returned safely from sea, a second sparrow would be tattooed on the other side. As for symbolism, a sparrow also signifies a pure love. Knowing that this boat will eventually be gifted to my son, it felt like a special name. And so Sparrow become the name for more reasons than I can count. It was perfect and held the essence of something quite special!
When it came to this endeavor, I started doing more research on the name Sparrow and its possible ties to Disney. Interestingly, I stumbled across an article about the Dusky Seaside Sparrow (affectionally referred to as the Dusky or the Dusky Sparrow). A darling little bird that was once so prevalent yet now it’s extinct. I learned that this bird was originally found near the St Johns River in Florida. At one time its prevalence was so grand that you couldn’t look within the marsh without seeing many of them. But over the years, birders started to notice a depletion of the species. We learned that the effort to control the mosquitos was responsible for this. The use of DDT in combination with the choice to flood the flat, moist grounds with hopes of removing the mosquito breeding grounds, also removed the same habitat used by the Dusky Sparrow for nesting.
Once it was clear that this bird was on the cusp of extinction, efforts were made to try to save the Dusky Sparrow. In 1983 the last 4 male Duskys were taken to Disney’s Discovery Island. (You can imagine my HOLY COW moment when I found this connection). For those of you that don’t know, Discovery Island is an 11 acre wildlife oasis located in Bay Lake. From 1974 to 1999 guests could visit this island and the observe the various species of animals and birds that called this space home. According to Wikipedia “In 1983, the last four living Dusky Seaside Sparrows were moved to the Walt Disney Resort to continue crossbreeding and living out their days in a protected habitat on the Discovery Island Nature Reserve.” And that is exactly what they did.
Sadly, due to the age of the males at the time of transporting, the program didn’t have the time it needed to be a success. In essence, it was too late. By 1986 only one Dusky remained named, Orange Bird. Despite the fact that he was blind in one eye and in a world of his own, it is said that he lived to an extremely old age for a Sparrow. Even though the efforts to save this species were not successful, Orange Bird and the other Dusky’s time on Discovery Island brought so much knowledge to their species. It also highlighted the role that we play as humans in the future for all birds and how important it is that we do everything we can do to save them, before it is too late.
While this may seem like a melancholy ending to a story, it very much resembles the story of our own lives. We live life and flourish, and then eventually we pass on. It is sad reality and something I struggle with. Yet, it is life. The hope is that we can leave a mark in the hearts of those that we love while finding the happiness that we all are in search of.
When it comes to my happiness, so many things come to mind. But creating is at the top of that list. My “makes” are stitched together with love for the ones that mean the most to me. They will outlive me and hopefully serve as a reminder that they carry a little piece of my heart within them.
While no life is perfect and things get harder towards the end, I like to think that Orange Bird spent the last years of his life overlooking the Old Florida landscapes that can still be seen from Bay Lake today, while he soaked in the magic all around him. I hope that he felt happy, loved, and cared for, with hopes that the future would be brighter because of him.
After all, I think that’s what we’re all looking for.