The year 2000 was an eventful year for me, especially in the way of time capsules. I participated in my first time capsule on January 1st, and then on the Fourth of July of the same year, my family and I travelled to the Texas panhandle to meet my uncles and cousins and to unearth a time capsule that my dad and his brothers had buried 24 years earlier in 1976, the bicentennial of American independence.
Now, I realise that reading about time capsules may be somewhat like listening to someone tell you their dreams—mildly interesting at best. But this post is mostly for my own benefit and reminiscing, so keep reading or not, it’s up to you.
Where was I? Oh yes, year 2000. Although I was only ten years old at the time, some of my most vivid memories of childhood are from this time period. Digging up the time capsule that my dad and his brothers had buried was fun. All my uncles and cousins were there, even the ones from California, and I remember the sensation of wonder when we cracked open something that had lain undisturbed for 24 years, buried before I was even born! (Although recently I found out that my dad had exhumed it in the 80s to remove some coins that he had included, since he didn’t trust his brothers not to steal them.) As far as the contents, what I remember most were the firecrackers and smoke bombs from 1976, that amazingly still worked.
But as fun as that time capsule was, the highlight of that year was the time capsule we buried on New Years. I remember it well, as well I should, for the year 2000 was a year to remember. The Y2K scare was all over the news, but I was sceptical, and was rightly convinced that everything would be fine. Even though I firmly believed that the new millennium would properly begin in 2001, I did buy a baseball cap with an LCD countdown clock on it, and I clearly remember when the day finally arrived: December 31st, 1999.
My dad was the youth minister at the church where we attended at the time, and as usual, he put on an all-night lock-in for the teenagers. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was almost midnight, and I stole into my dad’s office, waking up the computer to check the time on the Windows taskbar. 11:57, 11:58, 11:59… and boom! There it was: 12:00 AM, January 1st, 2000. The world did not end, and the computer kept chugging along as always.
I don’t remember if it was before or after that moment that we filled the time capsule, but I do remember the long white PVC pipe, and different members of the church putting in letters, and the young people putting their items in ziplock bags for inclusion. Some of the teenagers put in Pokémon cards (which were all the rage at the time), and I recall smugly thinking my own invention—dillapedes—were far superior to Pokémon. As far as what I put in the time capsule, I felt that I did not have objects worthy of such a momentous occasion, but I did my best. I also contemplated what my life might be like as a 35-year-old—and could not fathom it.
In my ziplock bag I included a plastic praying mantis, some pennies, two metal slugs, a Lego coin, an empty dark chocolate wrapper folded back and taped as if it still contained chocolate, a tract on the biblical view of fossils, and some notepad pages in which I faithfully reproduced pictures of several dillapedes, wrote the key to the Klish code which I had invented a few years prior, as well as a short write-up on the things I was interested in at the time. On the back of this bundle of notes, I wrote in black sharpie: “Someone stepped on the Y2K Bug.”
Everything went in the tube, the tube was sealed and stuck in the ground, and we poured a triangle of cement over it that would proclaim to all passers-by for the next 25 years, “Lock-in 2000,” along with “‘25” and a big question mark.

Now, in the grand scheme of things, 25 years is not that much time, but from my perspective going from age 10 to 35, a lot happened in those years. I’ve always been the imaginative type, but even my 10-year-old imagination could not conceive of who I am today or where I’ve ended up. I went to college, graduated, lived on my own, travelled the world, got married, and ended up living in Mexico. But through all those years and life changes, one thing remained on my mind through it all: the time capsule buried on church property.
I thought the day would never come, but finally it did, and on New Year’s Day 2025, I found myself with my wife and parents in Fort Worth, Texas, digging up an old PVC pipe to see if the things we had entrusted to it had survived the passage of time. For the most part, they had. Unfortunately, though, water had seeped into the pipe, and everything inside was quite damp. Even the items that had been stored in ziplock bags were not spared, and everything was permeated with an unpleasant dank smell. Not all was lost, however. We put on our archæologist hats and went to work carefully separating the wet pieces of paper and laying them out to dry, and taking pictures of everything to document what we found. We had looked in our old photo albums for pictures from that day but found none. Apparently a group photo from that lock-in was included in the capsule, but most of the photographs included were all but destroyed by the moisture.
That Wednesday evening there was a potluck meal with the church before Bible class, and everyone had an enjoyable time reading the old letters and thinking about years gone by. Of those present, only about 5 of us had been there when the capsule was buried. Many of the older members who wrote letters are no longer with us, and the teenagers have presumably continued on with their lives, having forgotten long ago about the capsule. One of them did get in touch with us asking about it, but he was not present since he had to work.
Being the introspective type, as I looked through the items my 10-year-old self had left me, I couldn’t help but think about how I am still the same person, and how the things I was interested in back then have continued and developed to the present day. My obsession with codes and ciphers developed into a love for learning languages, and I continue to have an interest in animals and God’s creation. My interest in computers and electronics led me to get a degree in Computer Science, and although I haven’t kept up much with my coin collection, I continue to keep an eye out for quarters I’m missing. And most importantly of all, the faith in God that I had as a 10-year-old boy has continued to be my foundation in all aspects of my life. Obviously much has changed in a quarter of a century, but I still find benefit in thinking about where I’ve been and how far I’ve come.
So, what’s next? A time capsule destined for the year 2050? I feel like it’s only right to keep this contiguous time capsule tradition going. I shall keep you posted.