When winter dreams begin feeling like a nightmare, many Mainers start thinking of warmer climates where salty fishing, sunbathing and beach bumming turn into a high art form.

Professor Richard Barringer likes to start at the beginning when he begins the tale of the outdoor funding windfall heading for Maine. But really, the good timing and hope in this story is in what could happen in 2012.

The battle of the bird field guides is picking up again. The sixth edition of the National Geographic Society (hereafter, NGS) Field Guide to the Birds of North America was published recently. This new edition is much improved. It will offer some serious competition to other field guides.

This month, the topic of Christmas-tree preferences has bounced around in my mind, mostly because Jolie, my intrepid companion, talked me into settling for an artificial tree instead of our usual aromatic balsam fir.

I was at a postseason get-together for one of my kids’ soccer teams recently when a parent approached me and asked, “When is hunting season over?” They were most concerned with when it would be safe to go outside without wearing orange.

It’s a long way from happening and certainly no guarantee, but after six years of uncertainty, lawsuits and questions, Maine may become the first state to be given an incidental take permit for trapping by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.