10:48 Jul 14, 2010 

I think Nerino is right about major being ironical -- this is a piece of fiction where the character speaking is, in sense, quite frequently making very small things into something bigger or larger or more important, at least for the moment that they occurr. The full text is available on the internet. Don DeLillo
The Body Artist

07:04 Jul 14, 2010 

Maybe the "twists" and "swarming" echo the movement of the birds as they come to feed, as she thinks of all that might happen during the day. Understanding "major thing" is difficult out of context.

06:54 Jul 14, 2010 

I do not know the rest but, to me, it might be either slightly ironical, in the sense that she devoted so much effort to a quite simple task, carrying it out with the utmost care and attention to every detail, maybe just to pass the time of the day, or the "major thing" is something other than the bird feeders and the overall context might help further.