Time Capsules

Aren’t they great? I first learned about the existence of time capsules, at least in the sense of US cities creating them and later opening them, in the City of Downey, California. I went to Downey to visit my good buddy Dillon when he was working "Downey" there (that was for you, Aro) and Kirsten and i were still in SoCal at school. I went to Downey early to beat the traffic and ended up exploring the civic center area and Downey city hall looking for cool things to see and find out about. I discovered a theatre (which was closed) and explored the rather unexciting town hall, where i suppose i learned some things. But as i made one last visual sweep of the premises before leaving, what did i discover but a secret TIME CAPSULE!!!

They had sealed it in like the 40s or 60s or something, and i remember getting really excited because it was going to be opened in just a measly some-odd few years! I quickly jotted down a note in my mental calendar to journey back to Downey to see the opening of the time capsule! …i guess that note must have gotten accidentally erased or something. I don’t know if they’ve already opened it or if i can still make it down there to see the excitement. What do they have in there? "Historical Documents" of the Galaxy Quest missions? Bodies? Historical junk? Space rocks? Answers to the question of whether or not Americans landing on the moon on the Apollo missions was a hoax? I guess there’s only one way to find out.

Anyway, two Sundays ago (Sunday June 22, 2008) i made an epic walk from post-church lunch and hanging out in Mountain View to our apartment in Menlo Park. Kirsten went to the mall with Katie. Ed joined me via modern telephony for the later portion. On my walk i stopped at a few historical Palo Alto plaques i had wanted to read (there are still several on my list of historical things to check out and learn about) and happened upon a few things i did not expect: i learned about the making of a park in Palo Alto, looked at some old, then-controversial murals at the former Palo Alto Medical Clinic, gathered some websites about photovoltaic systems and renewable energy, and viewed a rather complex public art/science/public service exhibit at Palo Alto City Hall. A review i read later called the exhibit "narcissistic"--which it may well be. Aside: at the park i saw how the whole community poured into making the park, planting trees and pooling resources to make it a reality. At the Clinic i observed the cool, old architecture, some towering oak and jacaranda trees, and the murals by a guy who had developed his style based on the work of Diego Rivera. City Hall included the Color of Palo Alto exhibit, and some cool quotes from M.L.K. Jr. and Coretta Scott King in the recently christened (January ’08) King Plaza--incidentally where City Hall, the art etc. project and the TIME CAPSULE are located. Yes, this is about TIME CAPSULES.

So, it happened then that i happened upon another time capsule, this time in Palo Alto, which is slated to be first opened in 2019 or so and three more times subseqently after that (to take photos of what’s in there and put it back? to add to it?). Another time capsule i can think of that i’m aware of is the one located in Chapman University’s Law School building within the slate tile wall. There are probably others that i have seen and accidentally forgotten about or been near but not noticed. Anyway, hopefully soon i and whoever will join me on such adventures can journey to a distant or not-so-distant land to experience the mystery and wonder of time capsule opening ceremonies. Any takers?

Also! Another cool thing i recently learned about related to time capsules—probably mostly because they also have the word "capsule" in their title—are capsule hotels.