Why is it so?

Mirinda reported today that the baby blue tits have managed to survive the woodpecker onslaught of the last few days. While the bird box entrance has been pecked at enough to enlarge the opening a bit, it has not been enough for the decimation of the baby birds. This has been in no small part due to my wife’s yelling and yahooing every time the woodpecker turns up.

My question has been, “But what about the poor hungry woodpecker?“

Mirinda informs me that, fortunately, the woodpecker is also quite keen on the fat balls that Mirinda has hung from the rhus, so it isn’t exactly going hungry.

Speaking of flora, I discovered the other day that the rhus in the front garden is a type of sumac. It’s also related to the cashew but that’s another story.

A while ago, I was searching for sumac and Nicoline directed me to the Syrian supermarket in Trosa where I found the spice in abundance. It’s just one of those strange coincidences that bears no fruit. In fact, the berries from the rhus would probably kill me while the berries that are ground up to make sumac most definitely, do not.

I do not intend to grind down the rhus berries and have mentioned this merely because I find it interesting. Something else I find interesting is a numbering convention I’ve discovered in the woods.

Here in Trosa, the Vitalisskolan puts up quizzes in the woods for their students to, I suppose, work out. I see both questions and kids, in the warmer months and wonder why the multiple choices are numbered in the way they are.

The question in the photo above asks ‘What is this called?’ and relates to the photograph above it. The possible answers are ‘patchwork quilt’, ‘down comforter’ or ‘sleeping bag’. The photo is of a patchwork quilt so, the answer is obviously 1. But that’s not my question.

No, my question is why are the choices 1, X and 2? In my experience, multiple choice answers are either numbered or lettered sequentially. For instance, the above would be 1, 2 and 3. Or A, B and C. Why the mix?

I’m keen to learn as much about Swedish culture as possible and this has me baffled. Is it just for kids or does this convention apply for adults as well?

Life in my head can be quite confusing sometimes.