One summer day, I was walking the High Line in New York City, with my dog Romeo. It was hot, and Romeo has arthritis, so we sat down a moment on a little bench, where the water flows in a thin film across the concrete. Romeo was fascinated by the water. We both splashed our feet in it as I sat there.

Suddenly, this whole crowd of tourists from Japan surrounded us and started taking pictures. Evidently, they found us picturesque, or thought we were famous. None of them spoke English, and I don’t speak Japanese, so I just sat there, nervously laughing, while they snapped pic after pic.

This is that moment, on the High Line, New York City, in the late summer of 2013.