The Importance of Sidewalks

Judy reminded me of how important sidewalks were to us growing up. Along with roller skating (and even now I can feel the vibrations, created by the skates shuttering along the cement, traveling up my legs; worse, I can remember catching a toe, tripping, falling, and hitting hard. No broken bones, which is truly miraculous), we spent hours playing hopscotch. Using chalk to draw out the squares was a rarity; usually we found a rock to line out the squares. Then, selecting the "right" stone for tossing took a while: size, weight, dimension-- all were part of the process. Flat, medium weight, and not too large. We were allowed a few practice "pitches" before the competition began, and the games were fiercely contested. Hopscotch was such a marvelous way to improve your balance, as storklike, you bent down to retrieve the stone. At times you teetered and were unable to maintain your one-legged pose. Turn over as soon as your other foot touched down. No "do-overs." Determining whether your stone was actually in the square was the beginning of many arguments. I don't recall seeing many hopscotch boards on neighborhood sidewalks these days. Too low-tech, I guess. Like roller skating, hopscotch was primarily a girl's pasttime. Were boys banned, or was hopscotch just considered a "sissy" game?

Another sidewalk sport was jump rope. Although today's jumpers have moves we could never have imagined and probably not have executed, our double rope jumping with mulitiple people hopping in and out was impressive. Unlike today's high tech ropes, we generally utilized a piece of clothesline. Again, I don't recall many boys taking their turns as serious rope turners or jumpers. If they did offer to join the game, it meant they would either turn the rope at warp speed or jump in with someone and get both quickly entangled in the rope.

Jacks was another game played on the sidewalk along with various ball games that required chanting while bouncing the ball and clapping or turning ... was it onesie, twosie..? I know someone out there remembers.

(As I mentally revisit these summertime activities, I realize the dense canopy of the beautiful old trees that lined our Woodsdale neighborhood streets made these games much more enjoyable.)

Lastly, we all, boys and girls, used the sidewalks for bike riding. How I miss my three-speed English Raleigh with the "headlamp" lighted by energy generated by the front wheel. Of course, I had a bell to warn unsuspecting pedestrians of my approach. I rode everywhere, often over the Kenwood path to visit Colonel's for a wonderful wizard or Suzanne Garden and an afternoon of card games. The only caveat was that I had to be home by dark. When were the laws passed that disallowed sidewalk bike riding? For kids, it was so much safer.

So, here's to sidewalks.... "step on a crack-- break your mother's back."

Lee