Jana

About five years ago there was a stretch of about three months when we were not without a houseguest sleeping on our couch. Actually, these three months saw no more than three or four houseguests total, so the average length of stay was pretty long. As our apartment was tiny, I mean tiny, one might suppose that this situation could get old after a while. Actually, the experience was more complicated than that. After a few days of being fed up with any one houseguest there might follow a couple of days of being grateful that they were visiting. It was almost like clockwork and as I look back on it now, it wasn't really personal. Well, not totally. Ok, after a while maybe it got personal.
Jana stayed for a couple weeks, maybe a little more, and I think she was the last of the series. She liked going to the Cloisters to contemplate and did so with what might have been daily regularity. She also loved the smell of the roasted nuts from those street side vendors. Really, really loved that smell.