Which Caledonia?

And we sailed and we sailed  Way up to Caledonia looking for a brand-new start.

From Van Morrison's Listen to the Lion

So Caledonia. Sounds romantic. Is it romantic? Actually, it comes from a Latin word for Scotland. Possibily it is the root of a Celtic word meaning "hard," as in hard land or hard people. This subject came into my brain as I was listening to Van Morrison in the car. Caledonia--sounds mythical. Atlantis. Caledonia. The South Seas. Certainly it is an attitude what these words conjure. Don't know Caledonia is Scotland? Scotland, a land where if the weather is bad, the locals say to wait ten minutes and it will get worse.

Caledonia. It is a state of mind.

We sailed and we sailed, way up to Caledonia.

or:

Caledonia you're calling me
And now I'm going home
If I should become a stranger
You know that it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything
I've ever had

From a song by Dougie Maclean

Nice. Really life is what we make it. For some, when times are tough, they learn from experience. For other people, a tough time is just that. Never an opportunity. Never a glass half-full. I will not deny that I often fall into the glass half-empty category. My Caledonia is not always a mythic place. Do I learn from my failings? Not often enough.

Does failure make my faith stronger, or do I crumple under the weight?

I have been known to collapse.

She's my baby
I love her just the same
Yeah an I'm crazy 'bout this woman cause
Caldonia..., your name

From Muddy Waters

There is a train from Scotland to London known as the Caledonian Sleeper.

The Caledonian Woods were famous in Roman times.

Caledonia.

I want to fly on the wings of bird

Across the sea to Caledonia

Where my love waits for me.

Ah, surely I have stolen from every Celtic song I ever heard to come up with that.

Surely I have a point. I thought I had a point anyway. Perhaps it is that what we want to imagine, we can imagine. What we want to be, can be. Maybe Caledonia is your Eden. Or it might be South Carolina, California, or the desert in Arizona. Oh yeah, I got it! Is this trite?

Wherever you go, there you are.

or:

The only constant in your bad days is you.

or:

Keep your sunny-side up.

Caledonia, I'm coming home.