The first book in a trilogy.
Our paths cross each day, perhaps hundreds of times. The effects of these crossings can sometimes bring surprising turns to our lives. Crossings is the first book of a trilogy that traces the lives of different people; some with completely different lives and interests.
Excerpt:
THE BIRTH
Whether we are born with antecedents of past lives or that we are simply new spirits without weight of the past, I do not know. What I feel though is that as soon as we are born – we come prepared with five senses to help guide us through life. Our eyes first see the outlines of a mother-‐ a protector and a source of kindness and love. Our ears hear gentle high-‐ pitched murmurs that calm but we also hear the sounds of displeasure and so we differentiate between the two. As to fragrances, we learn to distinguish the smell of mother and mother’s milk and both are a comfort. Touch we know by the smooth, soft breast as we feed and by the gentle fingers that caress and assure us further. And finally, taste, the flavor of warm milk, slightly sweet and fulfilling when we feel hunger.
THE LIVING
Thus prepared, our paths come into existence by our crossings and tracings with other creatures whether they are human or animal. Each crossing or tracing produces like/dislike, favorable/unfavorable, yea/nay feeling which either attract us or repels us. These tracings ultimately lead to paths with our choosing the path most attractive to our sensibilities. With the crossings of other paths, we again lean towards those that we favor and away from those not to our liking. As we progress in the experiences of life and after myriad crossings or tracings, we finally find the path we take. Guided not by a capricious choosing but by refined and attuned methods ,we arrive at goals that best reflect our individual leanings.
This is a story about such crossings and traces not elaborated as direct passes but as they normally occur – by happenstance.
It was not that Jack Hudson did not care, it was just one more thing to clutter his thinking. His only real pleasures in life now were sitting quietly and doing something such as writing, reading or cooking.
Goodness knows he had only a few friends that he considered calling friends and to receive the news that Julie was in such bad straits and in the hospital on top of that that really gave him pause to reflect on the things in life that really mattered. Julie in her own way really mattered. However, at the same time, it had been so long since they communicated that even though she mattered, the time had passed and he could not really think of her in the way they had been before. He decided that it would be senseless to get in touch or to go to Santa Barbara. They had been friends for more than twenty years meeting quite by chance when he was looking for a property to buy in Santa Barbara, California. She happened to be the realtor who showed him around. They had been seeing various properties for the entire weekend and Jack felt a little guilty seeing that she spent so much time with him so he proposed that they have dinner together. Looking at properties was her job, but still he felt that he owed her something.
It had been a long day; both were tired and felt uncomfortable with the unrelenting sun beating down. So now, a delicious, cool drink and a good dinner with a good bottle of wine were in order. Besides, they could review the properties they had seen and re-‐evaluate Jack’s needs with the realities of actually seeing the properties that were available and the prices that were being asked. Jack, without being too knowledgeable about price, the various areas, and in general what possibilities for social life needed this introduction.
Julie and Jack talked about business and then gradually, after a few glasses of wine, started talking about their personal lives; where they were born, about family, some of their personal likes and dislikes so that eventually, they felt a warm regard for each other rather than simply client and realtor doing business together.
