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. "e;A Place Apart"e; is a lyrical description of finding an untouched, separate, liminal dell. "e;Scouting with My Daddy"e;, 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, "e;Sanctuary"e;, two friends meet on a river near Canada to fish and find peace in the waning days of summer. "e;On the Gulf"e; 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 "e;The Forge"e; the two friends come together to fight a dangerous fire in the Valley of Virginia. The narrator of "e;Free and Happy, Wherever Home Is"e; discovers, to his surprise, a love for the land and animals on a dry Texas ranch. "e;A Cafe Scene"e; is a short vignette where the narrator looks ahead from the waning of winter to summer amid a feast of the senses. In "e;Solitude"e; 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, "e;Healing Waters"e;, 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.