Living in Minnesota, the winters can be harsh and long. The first snow in November is a harbinger of winter's arrival; yet there is something exciting about it. One feels a yearning to be out in the first snowflakes, when temperatures have not yet dropped to frigid coldness. Moving through the quiet, whiteness of the landscape, I stopped. There she was. A doe also venturing out in the early morning snowfall. We stared at each other, and I wished for her sake that we have a better winter than last year's brutal season.