What are the odds?

I wanted to post a picture earlier, but Marc has been using his camera a lot lately (I wonder why, it's not like it's his or anything, and it's not like he needs it for his studies, right?), so this morning, as soon as the sun came up, I made a mad dash for it (he was in the shower), et voilà! The lovely fabric I got from Elianne, at Zus. My very first swap. I love it. In addition to the fabric, the package also contained a beautiful envelope filled with wonderful goodies, which are not on the picture because by then Marc was out of the shower, and clamouring for his Nikon.

Did I recently mention the universe and its peculiar manners? Well, imagine this: the package Elianne sent me actually contains one of my favourite fabrics. I thrifted it a couple of months ago, and have been lovingly gazing at it ever since (yes, that's what I do with favourite fabrics, which explains why you get so few crafting photographs on this blog: if I love the fabric, I just can't bring myself to cut; if I don't love the fabric, I am not inspired to cut...). But to come back to the universe, what are the odds? Zilch.

And that has made me think some deep thoughts about the whole swapping thing, and how it's all about the giving and the receiving, about the process of it rather than the actual goods exchanged. How it's somehow the opposite of buying something with money (even though money spending is not always about the goods either), because there is no love in money, and there is much love in sending out something beautiful of your own to someone out there, and how the love you send always comes back to you (sometimes in remarkably recognizable forms...).

(Alternatively, I could give you a flippant explanation based on the size of this country that Elianne and I live in...).