In Winnipeg the leaves have already begun to change colors. The Sun has passed the fall equinox and soon temperatures will drop with the leaves. Another month or so and the snow will follow after which the Assiniboine and Red Rivers will begin to freeze over. Atop the frozen river, a twisting assemblage of wood grows around a bench of shaped ice. 4x4 precut/drilled pine lumber with 1/2” drift pins are stacked over each other and hammered in place with rubber mallets. The wood is finished in a lime wash, maintaining the winter hue and tonal palette. A folded metal plate is sandwiched into wall holding a supply of candles for light and warmth. Overhead a twisting oculus frames the winter sky while the sloped wall tops reveal the hidden flow of the water beneath. Gravity from the Earth and friction within the joints hold the structure together, while geometry maintains the form until the Sun comes back to melt the river and swallow the Cairn whole. The torrent waters of the Assiniboine River tears the hut apart, sending it adrift through the Forks, down to Lake Winnipeg. The absence of the ice, the snow, the cold, the shelter, marks the end of winter.