I didn’t actually know what a time-capsule was when we found one buried under the patio of our new home here in Galway.
I’ll tell you all about it soon but first I’ll tell you a little about what happened before ‘the find.’
As in most stories, some of what happened was good and some not so good.
One of the not so good things happened when I was out beach combing.
I was trying to get a closer look at this beautiful old round tower you see below and I fell down a rocky slope and trapped my foot between two rocks.
This effectively broke my leg my leg in two places and no, I didn’t find a time-capsule when I landed, just a big pile of wet seaweed!
Anyway, it’s been a bit of a roller coaster since then but one plaster cast, one wheelchair, one ‘Beckham’ boot and two surgeries later I am now managing to limp around with the aid of just one crutch.
All this has made me more safety conscious and right now the area around my house has become a place fraught with danger.
It is surrounded by a rocky wilderness, many potholes, a huge tangle of briar and right behind our back door was one extremely wonky patio.
The patio was so dangerous we were afraid to let people walk across it.
It looked like a broken jigsaw with a mixture of half buried and raised paving stones, not to mention holes and gaps about the size of an average foot where they must have run out of stones all together.
The landscaper who inspected it said it was so bad it had to have been built as a ‘labour of love.’
WRITERS LOVE KANGO HAMMERS
So yesterday, the landcaper returned with a van full of kango hammers, drills and all sorts of ear-assaulting tools.
I did my best to get on with the story until a couple of hours later he knocked on the door and handed me what looked like a small plastic lunch box. It didn’t look very appetising but he explained that he’d found buried in under the patio.
LETTERS FROM A TIME-CAPSULE
It was a time capsule. The family that had lived here before had filled the box with notes, photographs, and lots of little toys.
Each of them had also placed a letter in the time-capsule describing themselves and their likes and dislikes.
What jumped out from their writing and the strange little collection of toys and treasures was their happiness and love for each other.
It was inspiring and touching to read and I would never destroy the spell by revealing their identities.
HAPPINESS IN A BOX
As I read the letter from the man of the family it turned out that the landscaper had been absolutely right in his description of the patio.
In his letter, the man who built it described how he’d laid each piece of stone as a ‘labour of love’ for his girlfriend and their family.
Their time capsule will be reburied under the new patio and I really hope this man’s love for his girlfriend lasted longer than his patio.
MY WRITING HUT
Besides a new patio we are also getting a new ‘shed’ built.
The plan is to install myself in there and write. I can’t wait.
I’ve always dreamed of having my own writing hut – like the amazing writer, Roald Dahl. Now, if I could just be even a tiny bit as amazing as him…
Finding the time capsule has inspired me and triggered so many new ideas that my ideas book is bulging.
I was also inspired to start making my own time capsule and I will bury it under my new writing hut.
I have no idea who will find it or when. I just hope it inspires them as much as it did me.
Bye for now
Grace
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