One of Jana’s many remarkable qualities was her precognition, which sometimes bordered on clairvoyance. It is still a mystery to me where she got her information about things that were yet to happen. It can not have had anything to do with the mind. This is best documented by an incident that happened to us during our stay in the United States. It was, I think, in the summer of 1999, when I was a visiting professor at Stanford University for two months and Jana flew to join me, thus we could spend the holiday together. The daughters stayed with their grandparents in Lanškroun and we had a few days off. We wanted to spend them travelling through the American „Wild West“ – California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado.
Wandering through the deserts and wild natural landscapes was an unforgettable experience and we really enjoyed the trip. We traveled by car and gradually reached more and more wilderness. The population was sparse, the last FM radio stations disappeared from reception and we were completely alone on an empty road in the middle of the endless desert. At some point, we saw a sign on the side of the road that said “Dinosaur tracks” and an arrow pointing to a dirt side road. We looked at each other and said, “We are in no hurry, we are biologists, we can not pass up an opportunity like this,“ and turned off to have a look. Since we were in the desert, we did not expect to meet anyone, but the road led us to an unpaved parking lot where there was a large car and several men. We parked at the far end of the lot, but before we could get out, one of them came up to us and politely asked if we could park so that our car was right next to his. This struck me as a bit odd, as the parking lot had room for at least 20 cars, and it was not expected to be full all at once, and even if it was, why would the cars be parked next to each other in an orderly fashion? That did not fit in at all with the free-spirited attitude of the Americans. With mixed feelings, however, we complied with the request and re-parked according to his wishes.
We got out of the car, taking only our documents and our money with us, locked the door and set off along the narrow path which, according to the arrows, would lead us to the fossilized tracks of the ancient lizards. Another of these men joined us, he was friendly and kept mumbling something. We understood that he was playing the role of a guide who wanted to show us everything so that we wouldn’t miss a single track. We walked for a few minutes, the path winding between boulders and slightly downhill, so we could barely see the parking lot, and if we did, our car was hidden behind the big truck. And now it happened. Jana suddenly sensed danger and stopped. She just said to me: „Honey, we have to go back immediately! Something has happened“. I didn’t understand, our self-appointed guide looked a bit strange, but not in the least bit dangerous. Why would we go back without checking the tracks? But I could see the urgency and concern in my wife’s eyes. We immediately turned around and headed back. Our guide tried to talk us out of it. I gave him a few dollars and we walked quickly back to the parking lot. When we saw our car again, it was clear that it had become the object of interest for the men standing around it. One of them was kneeling in front of the door doing something. When they noticed that we came back early, they slowly moved away, let us get in and drove off. So nothing happened, but I’m sure it could have happened. I think if we hadn’t gotten back in time, the car would have either been robbed, damaged or stolen completely. Any of these possibilities would have been difficult to sort out given the remoteness of the area we were in. Jana saved us with her sixth sense and led us out of danger.
EPILOGUE
And that was not the only incident of this kind that we experienced together. And when it was repeated and Jana demanded actions that went against “common sense”, I did not protest. I knew that she had a capacity for “empathy“ that normal people do not have. And according to her story, she inherited this ability from her mother, who also possessed it. Perhaps there will be more “witches” among our daughters and granddaughters.