As weird as it might sound, this item was actually inspired by an episode of “SpongeBob SquarePants” called “Buried in Time.” In this episode, which originally aired in September 2010, SpongeBob, Patrick Star and Squidward Tentacles become trapped in a large time capsule that’s not supposed to be opened for 50 years. They eventually escape a short time later when the villain, Plankton, drills a hole in the time capsule so he can steal a copy of the Krabby Patty formula, which was placed inside the capsule.
My four-year-old son and I watched this episode the other day, and he’s at that age where he asks a million questions about everything. He began to interrogate me about time capsules, and I remembered that I’d put “bury a time capsule” on my bucket list earlier this year. I thought this could be a good learning experience for him, so I told him that we’d bury one ourselves if he wanted.
My father-in-law, William Adams of Excel, donated a military-style, clamp-down ammo can to the effort, which gave us a container heavy duty enough to withstand a long period of time underground. Everything should also remain nice and dry inside, but just to be sure, I wrapped the can in two plastic garbage bags before burying it. Everything I read also recommended that you bury it at least two feet deep in order to lessen the effects of rainwater.
The ammo can was roughly three inches wide, 10 inches long and eight inches deep, so we were somewhat limited on what we could bury. I included a copy of yesterday’s Mobile Press-Register, a photo of our family taken in March, one of my business cards, a $2 bill, a 2012 Farmer’s Almanac, a red plastic “Roll Tide” bracelet that I bought outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa last fall, a City of Evergreen lapel pin that Mayor Pete Wolff gave me a year or so ago, one of my reporter’s notebooks, four old Will Clark baseball cards from the late 80s-early 90s, a promotional brochure from Windcreek, some expired Masonic Lodge raffle tickets and an aluminum Miller High Life can.
The kids placed a few items into the capsule as well, but they weren’t too keen on the idea of their stuff getting buried in the yard. James put in a small car and one of his Pokemon cards. Harper tossed in a small plate from one of her play tea sets, a small toy spatula from her play kitchen and some drawings. We also wrote a letter to our future selves and signed our names to it. The kids talked about what they wanted to be when they grow up and predicted how many children they would have.
We buried the capsule in the backyard after pausing for a few pictures. We decided not to open it for 25 years, that is, not until July 15, 2027. The biggest challenge now is to just be patient and to remember exactly where we buried it. If we happen to move before 2027, I guess I’ll go out there, dig it up and buried it in our new backyard.
In the end, I enjoyed scratching another item off my bucket list. How many of you have ever buried a time capsule? What sort of things did you put in it? When do you plan to open it? Do you know of any other time capsules anywhere else? Let us know in the comments section below.
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