Walking without a dog

The last few weeks I have been on the East Coast of the United States taking care of my elderly mother. My husband has been home taking care of our dogs and my gardens. It's not been easy helping my mom through illness but she seems to be doing a little better. To relive my stress I go for long walks through the suburban neighborhoods. I choose routes with lovely historic homes and beautiful landscaping. I walk with my radio headset on tuned into the high paced world of the New York City Metro area. It feels so strange to walk without a dog. I brought my camera but forgot to bring the device that lets me up load photos to the computer so I apologize for the lack of photos with my post. I stop and talk with people who are walking their dogs. Most dog people are very gracious about letting me visit with their dogs and say they do the same thing when traveling without their dogs. I'm pleased to see that there are more mixed breed adopted dogs in this area, as in the past it was mostly designer purebred dogs, so I'm guessing more people are adopting dogs from shelters. There are even a lot more people out walking than there used to be as people are getting more health conscious in general. It's interesting to me to see the changes from year to year. I usually visit once a year or every other year. On the one hand, things seem more crowded and noisy, on the other hand more people are out walking and taking the time to stop and talk with others. It seems like people still hunger for connection even in this high paced, highly congested area, where there is so much competition for resources, we are still exchanging stories, information and ideas. I thought about calling the local dog rescue group but they didn't have any current dogs listed on their website, and the weather has been unbearably hot here, which is not good for dogs to be out walking in for the 4-5 miles I am covering, on hot pavement and in high humidity, so I thought I would wait to call if the weather breaks. Have fun enjoying your dogs and wonderful lives. I hope mom gets well and I get to go back to mine soon. Namaste