TREASURE HUNT

Look out the window. Chances are you’ll see a cloudy, wintry sky. The trees, except the indigenous evergreen pines, are stark and leafless.

Mornings are foggy and frozen and nights come early. Without fresh snow, the landscape is bleak. Even the midday sun is watery and weak.

In the weeks after we take down and put away all the Christmas decorations and before we bring out the pretty hearts for Valentine’s Day, a little splash of color can do wonders for the winter blahs.

And this is the time of year I’m drawn to anything printed or woven with a tartan design.

The Webster’s Dictionary on my desk defines tartan as a cloth with a woven pattern of straight lines of different colors and widths crossing at right angles – otherwise known as plaid.

Tartan, or plaid, is an ancient pattern, woven into the fabric that has been worn in the Scottish Highlands for centuries.

Each winter, here in Spokane, I pack my picnic basket with well-worn vintage metal red-plaid Aladdin Thermoses full of soup and hot cocoa and a heavy wool tartan blanket for a day of cross country skiing.

At home, I remove the white silk shade on my desk lamp replace it with a red, plaid fabric lampshade. It casts a warm glow over the room and over me.

I drape woven plaid throws over the sofa and chairs, and bring out the tartan placemats for the table.

It’s impossible to get the blues with that much red plaid around you.

This time of year you can find new tartan fabrics and linens everywhere. Other accessories are marked down in the after-Christmas sales at the mall or department stores.

But vintage items, like my old-fashioned Thermoses, are always easy to find year round at thrift stores and flea markets.

I know I can’t change the chilly temperature or the damp atmosphere outdoors, but I can add warmth to my rooms with a touch of plaid.

And if I have to spend a day or two in one of my favorite antique malls or other junking haunts before I find the perfect piece, well, so much the better.