Koolaid in Mason Jars

From the 1960’s, a kind of serial memory I have is of drinking Koolaid from mason jars.  Specifically when I was around 8 – 10 my brother and I would ask mom to pack a lunch for us.  She would hand it over in a paper bag and we would head off to the field behind our Indiana house.  My brother, I and sometimes our neighbor friend ‘Spanky’ would settle in the weeds talking the usual nonsense.

I remember the warmth of the summer sun.  The smell of the weeds and soil around us.  When we sat down our heads were below the tops of the weeds and it felt like a little safe world which I guess it was.

We would pull out the lunch.  The jar of Koolaid would shine in the sun with a deep ruby luminescence.  I remember the red the most for some reason.  We would drink it while talking, laughing or fighting.  A little world where Koolaid was the beverage.

The thing is I never liked Koolaid very much.  I liked soda of any flavor better but we were kind of poor and didn’t get that very often.  Today my fridge is packed with diet Coke and I never drink Koolaid.  Still there are the memories…