Since getting back into the habit of lucid dreaming, throughout each day I am suddenly hit with the memory of a dream I know for certain that I have dreamed before, but I haven’t dreamed the dreams for several years, nor have I thought about them (most of them not being particularly special and WELL before I started keeping a dream journal) at all during the intervening period. Just during typing this down I remembered about three more.
Have there ever been any studies into dream recall? How is it that I cannot remember a neighbor’s name, but can remember, down to the color of the grass and the weather, an island I visited years and years ago in a figment of my imagination?
This happened to me. When I first heard about LDing a few years ago I guess I placed a lot of importance on dreams.
I started to remember random dreams out of nowhere just as you’ve described.
I cant provide you with an answer as to why but I know the feeling 
I don’t know about the science of dream recall, but I’m pretty sure that memorization works differently in dreams than in real life. I think that would explain why people can be convinced that they never dream, yet you and I can have such vivid memories of dreams come out of nowhere like that.
I think that part of the reason for the vividness of dream memories would be that (I read this somewhere in the forum, not sure of its accuracy) when you remember dreams, the dream is basically re-enacted in your head, if the studies of brainwave patterns are to be believed.
But don’t quote me on any of this because maybe I’m just full of crap. It would be great if someone could research this…
This happens to me. From old dreams or dreams of the night before too. Usually when somebody says a word or I see something related to the dream, I remember it instantly.