Sanctuary

Filled with images of the beauty of nature - the colors of the sunset the feel of the wind with the approach of winter the tastes of food in a cabin or from a campfire the sound of quail and coyotes on a Texas ranch - the short stories and novellas of J. Kent Gregory explore the basic human yearning for the peace and healing found in the natural world. A Place Apart is a lyrical description of finding an untouched separate liminal dell. Scouting with My Daddy told from the perspective of a young boy describes his introduction to the beauties and thrills of the woods by his protective father. In the title short story Sanctuary two friends meet on a river near Canada to fish and find peace in the waning days of summer. On the Gulf follows one of the two friends as he escapes the Northern cold and a failing relationship to fish the surf and the Gulf Stream where he finds connection and shared loss with a trophy sailfish. In The Forge the two friends come together to fight a dangerous fire in the Valley of Virginia. The narrator of Free and Happy Wherever Home Is discovers to his surprise a love for the land and animals on a dry Texas ranch. A Café Scene is a short vignette where the narrator looks ahead from the waning of winter to summer amid a feast of the senses. In Solitude an older man alone with his dog gets in one last pheasant hunt before a winter storm and the unwanted arrival of visitors. In the final story Healing Waters the narrator flies out West after a devastating loss to meet a young woman who introduces him to the rivers and waters of the Cascades and the Coastal Range.