I'm going to miss those walks SO much since I said goodbye to Zak a couple of weeks ago, the really late night ones when everything is so quiet. I'm actually thinking about becoming a proper dog-walker as an alternative to getting another dog.
When I'm out 'working' I usually start off with music to get me going but if I'm halfway through a good book I can't wait until it's 'time'. There are times though when I don't 'use' anything and I just let my mind wander freely. It is amazing what memories/flashbacks emerge, sometimes they make me cry, sometimes laugh out loud but I feel like my mind is joining up a few dots and repairing itself, the detail that emerges is amazing at times, incidents that I'd forgotten about completely. I sometimes wonder if I dwell in the past too much but I also believe that you can't move forward unless you know where you've come from. Fortunately all the bad shit is ironed out somehow, I can remember that there were bad times in my life but I never FEEL those feelings. The good bits, however, can still give me a buzz and make me laugh.
I think a lot of this is probably to do with spending several years caring for me Alzheimer's-stricken mam.