A group of five families gather at a farmhouse in Vermont over Columbus Day weekend for their annual vacation. As the weekend drags on, they begin to realize that life has become more complicated and they may be slowly drifting apart.

One winter in Vermont, a middle-aged biographer struggles with depression caused by his desire to have an affair. To cope, he goes on long walks, but one day he finds himself in weather much worse than the misery in his mind.

Two elderly New Yorkers have always enjoyed the summers in their peaceful lakeside cottage in the country. However, when they break tradition by staying past Labor Day, mysterious incidents and unfriendly locals remind them they've overstayed their welcome.

In 1950s Canada, two girls see each other for the last time on a bus ride home from college. Over the following summer vacation, their lives change irrevocably due to boyfriends and pregnancy scares.

In 1970s America, a man invites his girlfriend, his daughter, and his daughter's girlfriend to the California Sierras for a weekend. As the group skis and picnics, the man considers his relationship with each woman and wonders how they interact with each other when he is not around.

During the 1970s, a teenaged boy's Vietnam War veteran uncle takes drastic action against his mother's widowed lover.

A Wyoming native unsuccessfully jumps between jobs over his lifetime to support his large family. Through bankruptcy and loss, he perseveres and continues to look forward to his next venture.

A Californian couple takes their teenage daughter on boarding school tours in New England, hoping to provide her some freedom after their older daughter passed away a year ago.

A five-year-old girl and her mother go into hiding with some less-than-savory friends at an upstate New York cabin. While there, the girl sees the ghosts of a past tragedy and, for the first time, confronts the insecurity and inexplicability of her own life.

A boy learns from his father’s best friend the history of his family and the value of man’s relationship with nature, but is interrupted by his father’s death and his mother’s sudden arrival.