When it comes to tourism, Maine can't be complacent and count on license plates that proclaim itself Vacationland. It's a crowded and expensive marketplace, and one in which potential visitors weigh competing lodging choices and even competing weather forecasts.

"Roughly three-fifths of voters approved LMF bonds in 2010 and 2012," the paper reports.

A year on North Haven follows a predictable rhythm. For nearly a decade my husband and I have lived by that rhythm.

Town meeting is a celebration at best, or a tense endurance test at worst. Sometimes, it's both. It really depends on what seat you're in.

Apparently Seattle is fining people who toss food waste instead of composting it. It's about darn time.

I indicated Bruce was "un pescatore," and one of the men mimed using a fly fishing rod. "No," I said, but then I was at a loss. Saying "lobster" and opening and closing my hands like claws definitely did not translate!

If you ask a lobsterman if he works from a business plan, the response might be something like, "I'm trying to get through next week," or "I take it year by year." Some will say that they used to have one, but they stopped when the timing of the shed became so unpredictable.

With the shift in activity in the Gulf of Maine from groundfish gear to traps, some of the impact from human activity on cod is coming from a different group of fishermen. Traps do catch cod. Is it significant? There isn't a lot of data to suggest it is.

This winter's book selection included a front to back reading of Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma, which I had dipped into here and there since it first came out in 2006. Another was chef Daniel Barber's The Third Plate. Both of these fellas racked up tons of frequent flier miles zipping around the Northern Hemisphere.