This evocative film is based on a short story by Gabrielle Roy. During the hot, slow Manitoba summer of 1935, a unique friendship blossoms between an old man and a child. Eight-year-old Christine has her first brush with the eternal when her beloved grandmother dies. The elderly Mr. Saint-Hilaire is realizing that his own life is drawing to a close. He wants to see Lake Winnipeg one more time and so proposes a day-trip there. For Mr. Saint-Hilaire, the lake represents a culmination of sorts. For the child, the excursion is the first step towards discovering the greater world and herself in it. Both of them discover some aspect of eternity in the shining waters and sunlit beach.