Early this morning I walked through the old part of my town for an appointment with my health insurer. A sunny spring day & tourists were already strolling in the streets. As I walked past, I saw a woman taking pictures of a front door with elaborate forged metal decoration.

I wasn't quick enough to tell her what spontaneously crossed my mind: "Thank you for paying such close attention to this detail of my city." And it occurred to me that the tourists' gaze makes me re-see my own city. So not only to do tourists nourish the city by paying attention, they also nudge me to look at areas which I normally overlook. Given how crowded my city is with tourists, this attentiveness kind of reconciled me with their sometimes annoying presence.

But this may be a good reminder: They come to pay attention, and by that they nourish the place. Perhaps the place is in need of such care even though it looks quite the opposite.