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The year 2000 was not really the first year of the Third Millennium; it was the last year of the old Second Millennium. This is because, under the present calendar system, there was no year "0." Therefore, the first year of a Millenium has a 1 for the lowest digit and the last year has a 0 for the lowest digit. So the First Millennium was years 1-1000, the Second was 1001-2000, and the Third is 2001-3000. The same principle applies when discussing centuries; the 21st century started with year 2001.
But since so many people get such a big kick out of celebrating the "rolling over" of the digits from 1999 to 2000, or whatever digits that apply near a new century or millennium, they tend to have their parties a year ahead of the celebrated event. None of that has anything to do with this bird feeder, aside from it's journey through the progression of time; but hey, it's something to read.
The pictures on this page are from early summer of the year 2000. Here, we see the accumulation of the circle of sticks is now substantially higher.
Now tightly woven and almost as high as the bird bath, it looks something like a giant bird's nest. Which would be appropriate, I feel.
Inside the circle, stuff accumulates and is gradually beginning to compost in the lower layers. I have no idea how this will impact the tree itself; whether it will help it, or whether it will harm it. But the whole thing is just a long term experiment which these web pages document for the pleasure of any who are interested.
Inside, especially when the rainfall is good, seeds and stuff sprout and form a thick mat at the base of the tree. Then as the rainfall backs off, the sprouts wither and are trampled down by the birdie foot traffic. The circle of sticks does the job of containing that action, though. And the ground that was once bare at the roots of the tree is now covered with growing layers of seed, seed hulls, leaves, twigs and several pieces of red garden pumice (volcanic rock) which I dropped in there back in 1999.
The pumice rocks don't get buried, however. Since they are light, the larger birds and squirrels and other critters that root around in the fallen seed for munchies tend to keep moving the rocks around. As a result, even though the layers build up from stuff that falls in there, the pumice rocks stay on top.
So this little creation of mine, this birdie sanctuary, is kind of like my own little Walden. A place to view from my chair on the back porch and take in the wonderous event that is Nature. The tinkling of the chimes, the songs of the birds, the drama of neighborhood cats stalking the birds while the squirrels sit in the tree and flip their tails as they bark at the cats; all of these things provide a balance to the massive pouring of technology into my life. Everything is connected; and it is all finds a balance.
