In Iowa: Summer in the offing

I read recently about research exploring the joy people take in anticipation. The researchers found people enjoyed contemplating spending money on something fleeting, like a trip or a concert, far more than for spending the same amount on a material purchase such as a piece of furniture or a new phone.

While a couch gets daily use and potentially lasts for years, it still is just a couch. We don't devote daydreams to it — unless it's a very exceptional couch, I guess — the way we do to vacations. Like Christmas morning in childhood, anticipation is part of the magic that makes something enjoyable.

I can attest to that magic — as I write this, I'm preparing to fly away for a week with friends in Florida.

The dream of this trip has kept me going through the winter months. Even now, as Iowa's tentative spring slowly warms the air outside and daffodils sprout in my yard, the thought of sunshine and beaches seems too good to be true.

But even with the specter of winter hanging pervasively in the air, I can sense the warmer days ahead. If there's anything positive to be said for the doldrums of winter in the Midwest, it's that they make spring and summer that much more pleasurable. So if I get the blues when I step off the plan back in Iowa, I'm going to try the same trick of psychology that makes thinking about future vacations so good.

To invert the catchphrase from 'Game of Thrones,' summer is coming, and I couldn't be more excited for it.

I'm particularly eager for downtown farmers markets, in both Cedar Rapids and Iowa City — perhaps the only good thing about Cedar Rapids only holding its market bi-weekly is on off-weeks I'm motivated to drive south for Saturday morning market-stand pancakes from Griddle Me This and coffee from Wake Up Iowa. (Trust me, those pancakes are worth the drive.)

Also in local food, I'm excited for my community-supported agriculture share to start. For the unfamiliar, CSAs are basically subscriptions to a local farm — in exchange for an upfront fee, customers get a box of seasonal local produce weekly throughout the growing season. Yesterday's Gazette featured a guide to local CSA options if you're interested in learning more.

At market or through a CSA or grown in my own small garden, thoughts of vine-ripe heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil and summer squash already have my mouth watering.

Beyond food, upcoming summer concerts are promising — if you haven't yet, check out the lineups for both Uptown Friday Nights in Cedar Rapids and the Summer of the Arts Friday Night Concert Series in Iowa City. Then there are Iowa City's Jazz Festival, Soul Fest and Iowa Arts Festival, which never disappoint.

Further afield, music festivals beckon, such as Des Moines-area Hinterland, which looks wonderful again this year, and 80/35, whose lineup I am eagerly awaiting.

And if nothing else, there's always the promise of sitting on outdoor patios for a drink and a bite to eat in the sun. Cheers, and happy anticipating. Summer is in sight.