Happy Dancing Blog

I have never had a productive conversation with a caterpillar, nor asked them a question I received an actual answer to. What you are about to read is based on scientific research done by others and connections I made in my own brain. Please proceed at your own risk.

I genuinely wanted walking (or maybe skating) to become something ordinary, woven into the fabric of my days instead of treated like a special occasion. Then life, in its usual unceremonious way, happened.

Summer is the peak season to explore on a camping trip - a way to spend quality time in nature or with friends and family.

My quiet place is in the garden. The act of sitting completely alone with my thoughts...

It’s important to remember that your garden is also likely under the effects of the heat. Let’s review what you can do to help keep your soil and little green buddies happy and thriving in the hot summer months

This summer I decided to set a simple goal: walk to and from work as often as possible.

As most of our regular readers know, I, along with my wife Audra, own and operate Island Lake Farm, located east of Brainerd. It is a diverse farm operation with an abundance of different products, from various fruits, nuts, syrup, and lumber grown as part of our agroforestry systems, to livestock and veggies grown for market. Water quality certification is another step Island Lake Farm took for conservation. Photo by Minnesota Water Quality staff With a mission of using ec

As June 8 - World Ocean Day - approaches, it’s easy to feel that as a Midwesterner living very far from the ocean, our actions don’t have impacts on that ecosystem, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

We need to ensure that our lakes are clean and healthy. But how can we tell? One way to tell is to look at the bugs in the water!

Interest in local food isn’t just a passing trend, it’s a return to something deeply rooted in our culture: knowing where our food comes from and who grows it. Across communities, the prevalence of farmers markets reflects a renewed desire for fresh, flavorful, and responsibly grown food, along with connection.

The best treatment for poison ivy is proactive care. If you know you've been exposed, immediately clean the area with warm water and soap. But sometimes you need more.

How can you volunteer? The first thing you have to ask yourself is what are you passionate about? What do you care about? Is there a problem you'd like to see fixed? Once you've identified that, start the research to find any organization that is trying to tackle the problem.

What Exactly is a Lichen? A lichen isn’t a single organism, but an example of symbiosis. It’s made up of a fungus and an alga living together so closely they function as one. The fungus provides structure and protection, while the alga produces food through photosynthesis. Together, they form a resilient team capable of surviving in some of the harshest conditions.

Some folks simply aren't built for winter outdoors and that's perfectly fine. Others can't fathom being cooped up indoors for months and that's fine too. What counts is discovering a way to make winter feel healthy and fulfilling rather than merely survivable.

What is the correlation between eating well and mental health?

Winter sometimes comes and goes within the blink of an eye, which is unusual for an area that usually spends months covered in snow with freezing temperatures. It is so interesting to go outside and see how nature has taken to this weather-wackiness, and wonder what is to come.

Each year, I eagerly anticipate the days growing shorter, the hush that falls over the land as the trees lose their leaves, the animals going quiet, and the first frosty white flakes falling from the sky. Winter is by far my favorite season.

Jim Chamberlin gives a personal overview of homestead planning and resources.

Welcome to winter! It’s the middle of January, and we are in the Upper Midwest. Temperatures are hovering around freezing and most days we don’t see much sunshine. When we ask “What should we do?” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Probably not “go outside”!

It's the perfect moment to pause and reconsider our constant companionship with screens. Those endless notifications and quick scrolls can quietly steal away from the warmth of real conversations and shared laughs, leaving us feeling more scattered than serene. Intentionally setting aside our devices, creating digital distance, can help us rediscover the simple joy of being fully present.