An Observation

This is the time of year that crickets and grasshoppers invade the heartland. When the ground gets so dry that it begins to crack (sometimes 1 inch wide) in the fields, lawns and along the foundations of buildings. These insects use these cracks for a home or a respite from the heat. They cover our country roads and then the low hanging bumpercovers (learned that term from our bodyshop boys) on our minivans, become heavily speckled with black, green and brown. Insects who have given their lives to make sure I never run out of something to do. If you bother to look at crickets or grasshoppers closely, which I have done on a couple of occasions, you will notice one common malady. Their back legs are never the same size. One big and one small, or one missing.
I believe that is why you always see them walking around. If they hop, they don't have a clue as to where they are going. I call it the 'popcorn effect'. When they hop, they must get the same thrill I used to get, as a child, on the 'Tilt-A-Whirl' at the County Fair. There's an inaudible (to humans) bug yell "SOMEONE'S COMING" and then ooowwwhhheeeee. Or maybe not.