I remember the lots on Skillman Avenue before Torsney park was built.  Out the door early in the morning and meeting with friends, we would always find something to do and “the lots” were a big attraction for many kids in Sunnyside.  Most times with my friends, we’d be climbing trees, playing war games or hide n’ seek, but I do remember one short period of time when we’d catch grasshoppers in our cupped hands.

          Who first saw that grasshopper jump?   Then the idea to catch and race them and it didn’t matter who thought of it first, but it seemed like a fun thing for friends to do on a hot summer day.  When we all had our little racer, it was race time.

           Of course capturing them was a challenge, and then into a box with holes so they could breathe, and then finding a good racing track to turn them loose.  This was no more than a stretch of pavement near the lots.   After we had enough, they went back into their home environment.   We never killed them.

          They deserved a memory so I wrote them a poem titled “Grasshopper Fun.”