Peter has been trying to get back to his creative roots as an architect. His successful partnership with his college friend Bruce has left him feeling as though he can no longer find the art in his creative practice. But downsizing to his own firm proves more difficult than expected and when he realizes he has to sell his house in order to survive, his girlfriend leaves him. With nothing left to hold him in the city, he decides to move out to his cousin’s farm and spend the winter in Saskatchewan. At first his plan is to build a cabin and winter like his mentor Henry Thoreau, but the weather soon overwhelms him.