Suitor Lessons Now Available

How much can fit into a twelve-hour escapade?

A scenic drive down Route 5 on a monochromatic day with the most sublime silvers, greens and browns coloring the landscape.

The final hour of the forty-painting exhibit "Seeing Colors: Secrets of the Impressionists" at the Muscarelle Museum at William and Mary.

French highlight: Pissarro's "Snowscape with Cows at Montfoucalt" for its ability to convey cold and capture the exquisite winter light.

I get chilled when it drops below 65 degrees and I wanted nothing more than to be standing on the street in front of the house in the painting.

American highlight: John Singer Sargent's "Portrait of Ralph Curtis on the Beach at Scheveningen" because he was such a fascinating man and it shows in his every beautiful brushstroke, no matter who he's painting.

And grains of sand in the painting? That's my kind of intensity.

Must-see companion show at the Muscarelle: "Modern Masterworks on Paper: Cezanne, Munch, Bonnard and Friends," a show of prints every bit as interesting.

By the time we finished, the show was officially closed at its only mid-Atlantic venue.

And we still had that beautiful drive back through winter fields and forests.

A supper of seafood chowder and wine at an undisclosed location.

The final night of the Israeli Film Festival at the JCC.

"The Matchmaker," a coming-of-age story set in Israel during the Six Day War, showed love and lust of several age groups: teens, dwarfs, middle-aged Holocaust survivors.

Favorite reference: "suitor lessons" where men seeking matches were given coaching by a woman to make them better at wooing others.

Question: could we still use such an instructor? Discuss amongst yourselves.

The last course: Analissa Primitivo with double chocolate cake and chile chocolate cinnamon pie at Ipanema.

Because after feeding the eyes and ears, it was essential to feed the nose and mouth.

Finishing up with a new mix, a "Goodbye Mix," that includes everything from Jeff Buckley's "Last Goodbye" to the Beatles "Hello/Goodbye."

Biggest surprise/most eclectic choice: Petula Clark's "Kiss Me Goodbye."

And then you look up when the mix ends and it's been half a day.

Twelve hours and all you've done is take a road trip through the fog, see a departing exhibit of tradition-bending art, take in a 2010 film nominated for seven Israeli Academy Awards, make dessert and wine your evening meal and listen to a swan song of a mix.

Funniest line of the day: "People live like this?"

Rhetorical, of course.