It seems like Iowans are of two mind-sets about the winter: either endure the cold, snowy weather or embrace it.

If you tend to fall in the first category, then you might want to follow the lead of those who live in Scandinavia, where the winter nights stretch out much longer than they do here in Iowa yet the countries continually rank as some of the happiest places on the planet, according to many researchers and polls.

Recently, the Danish word “hygge” (pronounced...