My sister Sue and I at the ‘World’s Fair’- 1964

Dinosaurs were fascinating creatures that have captured our imaginations and our curiosity since the beginning of time. When I taught second grade during a certain unit of study I would crown a dinosaur of the day-and when the kids arrived each morning a different dinosaur would be sitting on the throne (a tall classroom stool) wearing a crown (carefully fashioned from aluminum foil) and we would learn about and chart all atributes of that particular dinosaur. Kids for the most part love dinosaurs.

As we become adults, we perhaps don’t think about dinosaurs as much, unless of course we’re paleontologists. Maybe there’s an occasional news flash of one unearthed somewhere. I’m of the camp that believes they existed some 245 million to 65 million years ago – not just a few thousand years ago as some ascribe. More than understanding their anatomy or the reasons for their extinction- I seem to think of dinosaurs as a marker of time- for the earth, for us, for everything. If dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago- and humans showed up about 200,000 to 300,000 years ago- and Native Americans arrived in North America 30,000 years ago and Vikings 1,000 years ago and Columbus only 528 years ago-look what we have done to this earth in such a short a period of time.

I am no expert but I have read that even though Native Americans were in the New York area for at least 13,000 years, with fairly large population densities, scientific studies have determined that their ecological footprint was essentially invisible. Apparently if you didn’t know there had been humans on the landscape, it would be almost impossible to detect their use of the land. And yet it is documented that after the arrival of Europeans, large-scale cutting and burning of forests is said to be very clear in the ecological record.

Ancient native people were said to have thrived under changing conditions not by intensively over-managing or changing them, but by adapting to them and to the changing environment.

When Columbus arrived, he wrote letters about what he had found in the ‘New World’- the lush landscapes, beautiful mountains, groves and fields, harbors and rivers that ‘surpass human belief’.

New York Harbor was once described as alive with whales, dolphins, seals, seahorses, herring, striped bass, and hundreds of other species with plentiful oyster reefs. It was an ecosystem that had sustained the local Lenape people for generations. It was once an idyllic setting of small hills, streams, and wetlands.

At that point in time, New York Harbor was thought to be one of the most ‘diverse and dynamic environments on the planet.’ But historians tell us that by 1906 New York Harbor was nearly lifeless due to pollution and overharvesting. I remember reading an account of whales sunbathing and singing in Hudson Bay. When I visit Manhattan, I can’t help but to think of its original beauty, the shoreline and topography that lies beneath the far-reaching skyscrapers and acres of concrete.

How did this all happen in such so little time? Dinosaurs 245,000,000 years ago-Columbus only 528 years ago. The stars-the sundial-the clock-the Apple watch!

Compared to dinosaurs, humans have occupied only a speck on the timeline of Earth's history. It is said that if the entire history of the earth was symbolically represented by just one year on the calendar-starting with January 1st and ending with December 31st- using this scale-dinosaurs would have arrived on the planet December 12th and disappeared on December 26th- just 14 short days. And homo sapiens would have arrived at around 11:25 PM on December 31st! We’ve been around for about a half an hour-out of an entire year- and civilization-building began just one and a half minutes ago. And look at the state we’re in!

So, my wonder has always been how did we makes such a mess of things in just a minute and a half? How did this once vibrant and beautiful planet become home to pollution, over-foresting, climate change, factories, plastic islands off shore, a depleted ozone layer, animal extinctions- school shootings and prisons and dishonesty and greed? You see, I know it sounds like a bit of a bummer but that is what I think of when I think of dinosaurs- that is what they teach me.

Was I the one that brought up dinosaurs?

If the planet was reflected in a lifetime, we have devastated much of it in less than one breath.

I don’t really need to visit any more of the cities of the world- OK maybe just one or two- I’ve seen what civilization has done- just put me in a National Park and let me see what used to be – the amazing, miraculous, diverse beauty of this planet before the last minute and a half of December 31st. Sure beauty can be seen in the cityscape, the cathedral, the seven ancient wonders of the world but also in the forest, the seashore, the seven natural wonders of the world.

And yet so often we are left feeling small and helpless-I know, I know-I know - ‘Think Global-Act Local’. We recycle, reuse, renew, rethink, reduce, repurpose- we don’t use pesticides or herbicides-we try to support local efforts-but how can we change this trajectory? An earth that was home to a few thousand is now home to more than 8 billion- 8 billion that is a staggering number!

So how can I leave this dinosaur diatribe with some bit of hope-I know, let’s all try to find the National Park of our hearts-let’s settle there for a bit- let’s take care of this earth like it was one of our own-because it is-it is part of us and we are part of it. Let’s take the next symbolic minute and a half and clean things up-find solutions- dream the big dream. ‘We can do it-yes we can’!’ Just ask the dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs-A Matter of Time