Stan Nelson, in his forties, is mired in nostalgia for the 1960s and the woman he lost then. He figures his only way out is to write about why he is so frozen. He creates in words the times and characters of then. He locates those characters in the now so they can comment on the veracity of his words about then. Except for the Chinese woman who first introduced him to the Tao. And it turns out understanding the Tao of building a tea hut in the now just may be his release from the then.