By Anne Finlay-Stewart

EDINBURGH - As we walk, we can feel the streets literally vibrating with anticipation. This morning at 7 a.m. the polls opened for the estimated four million registered voters to put their X beside YES or NO in the clearest of questions: Should Scotland be an independent country? By breakfast time on Friday, Scots will know what they and their neighbours have decided.

Because that is what this ultimately is. The people of Scotland making a decision about their own future.

I have never seen such an exciting buzz of citizen engagement. In every shop, bus shelter and pub, the conversation is invariably about the vote. And it is not idle chatter, but genuine exchange among neighbours about political ideas. About nuclear submarines, health care, education, oil, farming, women. We have heard no anti-English talk on the street, nor any blind nationalistic slogans. People are talking about the country they want for their children.

We chose this date to come to Scotland because of the referendum, but we were not the only foreigners drawn here to witness history. A journalist from Bilbao was visiting for a few days and was keen to share his dreams for Basque independence. "We have a language that is not related to any other in the world, " he told me. "But it is not only about language. We are a rich people in many ways, but we are kept from making decisions that affect our people by the government of Spain and its weak position in the EU." We agreed to keep in touch after Thursday, to talk further about the implications of Scotland's vote on independence movements across Europe.

ABC television was interviewing some American students on the University of Edinburgh campus and we stopped to listen. The two young men were informed and articulate, and firmly supported their President's NO position. "Of course they have a right to hold this vote," said one, "but I think when it comes to immigration policy, defence - the realities of governing - it will be too difficult for them."

I could not help but think how that kind of paternalistic, condescending talk might have sounded to a young American if it had come out of the mouth of a British officer in say, 1775. The revolution might have started a year earlier! The second student had a lot to say about the dangerous situations in Syria, Ukraine and Gaza, and the importance of a "strong, united NATO." No mention was made of the Trident nuclear submarines under U.S. control, the only such NATO weapons in Europe, which are conveniently located in deep water a few miles from Scotland's largest city. Of course U.S. President Barack Obama does not want to see Scotland with an independent prime minister who is committing to a nuclear-free future for his country, nor does he want to give Texas any ideas about going it alone.

While the common theory has been that the vote breaks down along generational lines - those over 55 voting NO in fear for their pensions - this is far from universally true. Certainly the young have distilled the essence of the day - "It's kind of scary, and so exciting too" said our twenty-three year-old artist friend, who is looking for a job to pay for her studio space. But the sparkling eyes and wringing hands of the senior woman volunteering at a National Trust historic site were just as telling about her desire for Scottish independence. "Oh I hope, I hope. I will be at the parliament buildings Friday morning - I just hope."

Our table mates at the Roslyn Chapel cafe, a couple around our age from Dundee, were eager to talk about the vote. He was a firm YES; she still tentative but clearly leaning AYE. They spoke of Scotland's self-sufficiency in food, water and energy. "Loch Ness alone has enough fresh water to supply all of Britain," James Bruce informed me. Not only does Scotland have the resources, but they have expertise and a long history of innovation. (Think Alexander Graham Bell and James Watt.) Right now they are leading the world in a new renewable energy technology with power from the ocean tides. Essentially the design uses the energy of the waves to drive turbines, and it is predicted that one project in the Pentland Firth alone could power half of Scotland.

I met a man on the roof of the National Museum in Edinburgh. He told me he had "almost" grown up in Canada. "I saw the tickets - the ship from Liverpool, the train from Halifax to Toronto." His stepfather had bought those tickets in 1957 for his wife and her four children, but he got sick and died before they could leave. My new friend had stayed in Scotland all his life. Concerned about his pension, he was leaning toward NO. "Things are not so bad now. They could be worse I guess." Then he looked out over the roofs of Edinburgh and into the misty horizon. "But maybe the young people..." His voice trailed off. "After all, everything can change in an instant." Indeed.

This will be a people's vote. Although the voting age in Scotland is 18, this year 16 and 17 year olds will have a ballot. Anyone who lives in Scotland is entitled to a vote, and 97% of those eligible have registered. On this mild morning, voter turnout is expected to be as high as 90%.

It is a vote for the future - the status quo or the possibility - just the possibility - of something better.

Anne Finlay-Stewart is Community Editor of Owensoundhub.org. She can be reached at [email protected].