When I was a little girl, we had this book on the table in the den at home - Audobon's Birds of North America.
I spent hours looking through it over and over again. The paintings were so beautiful. It was a 'good' book, so I had to handle it with care. It was an inspiration to become an artist (something I'm not at all today). My mum was an inspiration to pay attention to nature, as she knew all the birds from their songs and all the wild flowers in mountains. When I moved to a new country a few years ago, one of the things that bothered me right away was that I didn't recognize the birds any more.
This course is my first real journal. I've started many but never stuck with it. This course has been a wonderful inspiration. Hopefully I will continue when it's over.