In my never ending quest to improve my bird feeders, the better to offer the feathered ones their seeds and suet, I am always watching for different and useful innovations. I consider the pole that holds the feeder just as important as the feeder itself and thus I have enlisted, adapted and converted all sorts of iron bars, tubular steel, playground equipment and heavy weights into my designs. With my eye thus turned toward design innovation suitable for rugged outdoor use. I knew there would come a day when I would employ a discarded deck umbrella as a support system. Something however, kept me from plunging right into the umbrella experiment and I'm not sure what it was.

I had many opportunities to get a large umbrella back in the days when a scavenger could wander over hills of rubble at landfill sites. I even saw and rejected a large wooden umbrella of the type I think are referred to as Roman market umbrellas. Cristo used this style by the hundreds in his famous art display where umbrellas trekked across a stretch of California landscape. But even this couldn't sway me. Umbrella after umbrella fell by the wayside.

However, my umbrella reserve crumbled this summer.

I was at a garage sale in the back streets of our clean and neat community when the skeleton of a metal deck umbrella caught my eye. It was leaned against a desk and I stood it up, twirled it about, noted that a large object had given it a bad bend and put it back. Before I left the yard sale though, I went back to the battered bumbershoot and stood pondering. The garage sale people saw that I was interested in it and said I could have it free. "What use could it have anyway" they wondered aloud? I quickly replied that it would be ideal for hanging small bird feeders. "Oh," they gasped in unison, "What a great idea!" A noticeable pause followed in which I could hear the value of the battered item rising in their minds. I think they were also hoping I hadn't heard them say I could have it for free. Noting their consternation I offered the dollar they'd been asking for it and left.

The umbrella sat by the woodshed through an ensuing hot spell, then as the temperature fell, I brought it over to the back step for modification. I pounded small holes in the tips of each of the ribs and hung 'S' shaped hooks from each of the holes. Knowing there would be a lot of weight hanging from the umbrella I pounded a thick piece of iron rebar into the ground and slid the umbrella over top. I turned the crank and opened the arms. All was ready for the hanging feeders.

The first feeder I hung from the umbrella was my porcelain pig, a favourite with the birds. The pig was once a piggy bank but the snout opening makes a perfect hole into which birds can dart and retrieve seeds. I then brought out a heavy ironstone teapot which was languishing in the house, and hung it from the handle with lid removed - one more feeder in place. Soon a metal kettle, a small teapot, a plastic gazebo feeder and a small watering can joined the umbrella merry-go-round. I still had one umbrella hook left to fill but something made me pause.

At first I got a kick out of guessing which feeder the birds would go to. There were so many choices there was never a line-up. However, a few days later, with one hook still needing a feeder, I realized the thrill was gone. All I managed to create was a make work project for myself and an eyesore. I dismantled the contraption and felt relieved. Perhaps when the ground was covered in snow my umbrella feeder stand might be resurrected but for now the experiment was over.