Photographer John Ashby lived and worked on Cape Breton Island in eastern Nova Scotia. Struggling to keep ahead, photography had taken a back seat to house building. Just when Ashby had created a successful construction business he abruptly disappeared to New York City. His friends and neighbours began immediately to speculate on his whereabouts and the cause of his disappearance. Was it work...or a woman? Meanwhile, we catch up with John Ashby on the streets of New York City, musing on life, his past and his future. Though the mystery is never completly resolved, the film uses humour to explore the serious side of contemporary life in rural Atlantic Canada, where leaving ones' community because of the harshness of life has become the norm.