A time to be proud...

One day, I will get up and go to bed on the same day. I certainly didn't manage it yesterday. I had today booked off as time in lieu anyway but at 1:30am, I went to bed shattered after a long work day and having spent the evening reading referendum blips and avoiding news programmes. I was awake again at 4:15am.

When the 'No' result was confirmed, I'd never known such a mixture of emotions. As a person who trundles up and down regularly from England to Scotland, I was relieved in one way that the union which so many had fought and died for was preserved, but was then hit by overwhelming sadness that the country I loved so much had not gained the independence that so many passionate Scots had been striving for. I sat on my bed and cried.

It seemed that such a lot had happened in the last year or so, with a null result at the end of it.

However, as the day wore on, calmness and realisation set in. Scotland and Scotland alone, had chosen. Everyone's decision had been made and no one should be blamed for the individual choices made. While many see the outcome as fear triumphing over hope, negativity over positivity and the shattering of the dreams of many, no one can get away from the fact that nothing will ever be the same.

What Scotland has demonstrated to the world is the true power of the democracy and woken everyone up to true political awareness in a lazy UK where more people tend to vote for the winners of the X Factor than who vote at general elections. To witness this massive turnout to vote for the future of a country by the people who live there, was a privilege and lesson to all.

Scotland can hold its head up high, proud of giving its people that chance. I believe that demonstration to the world has changed things for the better for all of us and once the soreness has worn off, we will all realise that and work towards a better future. Sorry for sounding like a tired and sentimental advert, but that's how I feel.

I'll get an earlier night tonight and be back in 'hard faced cow' mode tomorrow I promise.

Go large...

Track? I had this one going through my head today. It was originally written by JJ Cale in 1972. I last heard it performed by the Trevor Burton Band in a pub about twenty years ago and this version by Eric Clapton is pretty good! - Don't Go To Strangers