Time Capsules and Coat Pockets

Some community organizations bury a time capsule in their community with an assortment of objects inside, things like a newspaper, a current best seller book, a textbook, some cash money, some preserved food and so on. Things that will paint a picture of what life was like when the time capsule was initially buried.

In some ways, finding a coat you haven’t worn in many years in the back of a closet is similar to unearthing a time capsule. And that is precisely what happened to me earlier this week.

For one reason or another I dug into the deep, dark reaches of the closet in our spare room and found the punk-rock-biker-style leather jacket I wore back when I was “the man.” Out of curiousity I dug into the pockets to see what items I may have left there.

First thing I pulled out was a ticket stub to a Queen concert from the Pacific Coliseum. That brought back a flood of memories of the very first real rock concert I attended. Freddy Mercury singing Crazy Little Thing Called Love, riding the bus with my best pal Steve, and marveling at the smokey haze rising from below. Yep, that was a night to remember.

Next thing I found was the label from a bottle of Black Label beer. Intact. That made me remember the theory that we would espouse, if you could get the label off in one piece you were definitely a virgin. Is this what we would now call “junk science”? Hmm.

In another pocket I found a tiny little newspaper ad (does anyone even remember newspapers?) for a Triumph TR4. Yep, I remember driving down to 4th Ave in Vancouver and my burning desire to buy that TR4. I can only imagine the heart ache and money pit that little Triumph would have been.

Then I found the key to my 1979 Honda Hawk. That bike was the coolest thing on the road back then. Until a truck at the PNE backed up over it and crushed it. The insurance settlement did provide me with enough money to buy my 1982 RD 350. Good times indeed.

This little trip down memory lane made me wonder what I would find in 20 or 30 years if I left one of the coats I currently wear in the back of a closet. Yes, I will have to tuck a coat into the back of closet for future discovery.