There is riding and grooming going on across the state, now that many parts of Maine have received substantial snowfall, but the snow is patchy in some places. The warm fall and a few days of warmer than normal weather in January have resulted in open water — not all lakes and ponds are frozen enough for riding.

Based on reports by state fisheries biologists this winter, the ice fishing season is either going great or hardly going.

Smartphone applications have made it easy to keep score in our lives, as if we’re inhabiting a massive video game. Foursquare gives points and badges for checking in to stores and restaurants. Using Nike+, runners can set running goals and track stats from past workouts. From Chore Wars (an app that rewards household tasks) to SuperBetter (a game that aids in recovery from illness), gamification is seeping into every corner of our lives.

We’re approaching mid-winter, and snowmobiling, ice-fishing, rabbit-hunting and self-propelled options like skiing, snowshoeing and hiking boom. A few hardcore types even backpack with a tent or fish a handful of open-water rivers or streams that have year-round fishing regs.

“It just isn’t worthwhile to go duck hunting these days — having to get up early in the morning or sit out in hard weather for a shot or two all day. I wouldn’t want my son to pursue a sport that I love so well that has sunk to such a low level after the way I have known it.”

This is part inside story and part full disclosure, and while I’m at it, I should say that in 20 years of journalism, I have never looked to personally benefit from a story.

This column is the second of three reviewing the results of the most recent Christmas Bird Counts in Maine. Let’s visit some coastal count circles together, working our way from York County downeast to Eastport.

Let’s face it, as some of us reach and proceed through senior citizenry, we search for, and take advantage of, every little special deal we can find. Not that those of us who’ve passed into what some call our Golden Years don’t have a great deal to be thankful for: making it this far, being able to enjoy our lives, our families, our memories and our ever-expanding circle of friends and, for some, good physical condition and the extra leisure time for recreation that retirement affords.