Dear Lee,

It’s spring, and if you live in the snowbelt it’s time to wave goodbye to shoveling drives and sidewalks. It’s also time to turn off your TV set and say hello to plants, mulch and antiques and collectibles flea markets.

Psychiatrists and psychologists have a lot of positive things to say about shopping. It’s a good way to combat depression. A purchase, especially one that’s a bargain, actually excites the “happy” parts of your brain. A shopping trip, according to two leading experts on brain research, provides physical activity, challenges the mind, and helps you maintain a positive self-image. In other words, it provides a long walk carrying heavy purchases, many decisions to make about price or desirability of an antique, and after you decide what to do, you feel good about yourself and your ability to spot a “find.”

Of course, you must beware of the food—flea markets and malls don’t offer the best nutrition, but who doesn’t like cotton candy, corn dogs, turkey legs, funnel cakes, snow cones and grilled pepper, onion and sausage rolls. Some people even like fried dill pickles and deep-fried Oreo cookies. Just don’t overdo it—and keep walking.

When you buy at a flea market this year, you’re helping the economy, saving trees and energy by recycling and—if you’re clever—creating wealth for your retirement. But I like flea markets because they are happy places. A visit is a treasure hunt that gives you a good chance to find a treasure. Strangers talk to you and even offer advice. I have special “flea” friends who get up before dawn and drive with me for miles to shop early. Then at the end of the day we all show off our purchases.

If you have never been to a big antiques flea market, one of the many “extravaganzas,” go this year. You can find bargains and enjoy a day filled with surprises, mysteries, lots of laughs, and probably at least one improbable purchase. We once tried to buy an outhouse, antique of course, but we couldn’t figure out how to get it home. We wanted to put it in a corner of our garden.