Sydney School of Arts & Humanities
Impressions
No 2 - 2025
ISSN 22093265
I thought dinosaurs were extinct, but then ... look what I found!
We go to an awful lot of time and effort searching for months, even years sometimes, in hopes we will find their fossilised remains to be carefully examined and preserved in our museums. There is something inherently human in our need to never lose sight of these amazing beasts, as if their fate is forever tied up with ours, especially as we face the consequences of our own making.
The catastrophe that was about to unfold began one morning in early spring some 66 million years ago. Dinosaur babies staying close to their mothers' sides as they foraged for food, others heading for the river to drink and wash their huge bodies or tend to their wounds from the previous day’s encounters.
Huge Flying dinosaurs gliding overhead through the pristine air. 'Oh, isn’t this marvellous! What a beautiful place to roam and multiply our species!'
What they did not know was that a huge asteroid from a gravitational interaction with giant Jupiter was now on a collision course with earth and that within a matter of minutes the world they had lived happily upon for thousands of years was about to undergo a change so deadly it would completely wipe them out.
With lightning speed, as quiet as it was silent, the huge asteroid hit the Yucatan region in what we now call Mexico, setting off a 10-metre high seismic wave.
Within a few minutes this wave of extreme heat, not unlike the heat from molten rock, incinerated everything for miles around.
The eco system was completely destroyed along with the dinosaurs, their fossilised bones impacted by the blast in such a way that palaeontologists have no doubt as to the force of this deadly event.
The nuclear winter that followed lasted for thousands of years, with only those smaller animals who could burrow deep into the earth's surface escaping the fallout.
It's hard for us to imagine such an event happening today and yet when we watch images on our screens of the wild fires around the world - sudden devastating floods and cyclones - we have a small glimpse into the vast natural forces at work in the universe.
The warning: never get too comfortable!
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Story credits:
Text: Meg Mooney
Photos: C V Williams
WRITING COURSES ONLINE
New dates announced soon
Indulge your love of words with a course at Sydney School of Arts & Humanities.
Memoir & Creative Journal
Celebrate in words a special period in your life
Each of us has an original view of the world and a period we want to record for posterity.
Share in a session focused on producing your own personal journal or a memoir narrative celebrating your very own take on life.
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Capture a memory or create a journal of travel, parenting, as a garden diary, or for other family events – your unique record of a time to remember.
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We explore ideas about:
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Developing an ‘observer’ role
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Prompting memory & presenting text in an engaging form
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Understanding copyright, intellectual property and plagiarism
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Blogging – the fun, the fortune and the fame.
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Come and enjoy extracts from the journals & memoirs of literary figures and popular celebrities. Keeping a journal is for you alone!
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When: TBA – Watch for new dates later in the year.
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Fee: $97
Poems of Enlightenment
In search of 'Self' and 'Other'
For thousands of years, poets across the globe have trodden pathways to personal discovery through poetry to share the self within.
This poetry appreciation course examines poetry from across cultures, countries and centuries.
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When: Saturdays, 2-5 pm
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Suggested Reading
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Pablo Neruda, The Heights of Macchu Picchu (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, NY, 1967)
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Roger Housden, Ten Poems to Change Your Life (Penguin Random House, UK, 2002)
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Stephen Mitchell (ed.), The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry (HarperCollins, New York, 1993)
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Norman Rosten Selected Poems, George Braziller, New York, 1979)
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When: TBA – Watch for new dates later in the year.
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Fee: $97
Sundays with Leonard
Honouring the lyrics of Leonard Cohen
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Singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen (b. Sep 21, 1934, Westmount, Canada – d. Nov 10, 2016, Los Angeles).
He entranced audiences around the globe, with thousands attending his performances in Australia in the years leading up to his death in late 2016.
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In 2009, while performing in eastern Spain, he collapsed on stage with food poisoning while singing his legendary Bird on a Wire. Still he would continue to perform – a consummate performer and a real trouper. Three days later, on his 75th birthday, he performed in Barcelona, declaring: ‘May your lives be sweet as apples dipped in honey’.
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Learn more about Leonard Cohen and share your understanding of Hallelujah, Anthem, A Thousand Kisses Deep and other songs.
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When: TBA – Watch for new dates later in the year.
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Fee: $97
BOOKINGS VIA EMAIL: enquiry@ssoa.com.au
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