Goodbye to this City...

Hi Friends,

Well today is the official day. I am moving out of Ottawa and starting my new journey as of this morning. I was supposed to leave on Wednesday but my Aunt was unable to come and get me that day so now it's my awesome cousin Tyson who will be helping me move. Thank goodness I'm moving a little later than planned as I only finished packing this morning! Yikes! Isn't that always the way...

I sit here at my desk one last time as I type this email to all of you. It feels strange to have everything in boxes around me and my apartment has such a huge echo from all the empty space. Very strange. Man, it's sad to be leaving this place. Can't put it into words just yet but I'm working on it.

What an experience this has been saying goodbye to so many of you. I know that I am going to miss you all so much. I've been enjoying every special moment we've been able to share together. I'll admit that I'm a little nervous to be starting this journey on my own but I am optimistic that it's going to be a great experience and that I will find what I'm looking for along the way. It really feels like the right time to be leaving and I'm excited to see what happens.
The only part that makes it a bit sad is knowing that things will never be the same after I have left here and also knowing that I will be gone for such a long time. It's really starting to sink in...

This has been such a special time in my life and I am so happy to have spent such a beautiful seven years in Ottawa. Thank you to all of you who have helped me along the way and especially to those of you who have made my last few days here so special. It's been magical. They always say that you learn who your true friends are during times like this and it's certainly the truth.
It seems appropriate to be saying goodbye with the lyrics of the song I wrote to say goodbye to Ottawa...I wrote the lyrics to this song as I was walking my dog Sadie in the park last spring, thinking about how much I was going to miss this place.

Goodbye To This City...

Lyrics by Rozalind MacPhail

It was seven years ago when I moved to this city...
My flute, my dog, my boxes full
and my heart willing

Gonna make it in this whirl of a world
Gonna make my loved ones proud
Gonna be that "Mystery Flute Girl"
Gonna sing with my heart out loud!

And I say goodbye, goodbye to this city
The time kept flying by and now I'm leaving
Oh I'll miss you so
But good times come and go
Time to be back in that flow
Time to move my show.

Bye for now everyone. I'll be in touch soon. For those of you who want to contact me before I reach Banff, I'll be staying at my Mom's on Toronto Island: 416-203-0776. I'll put a mailing address and phone number for Banff on my Contact page of my website as soon as I have it available.

Warm Wishes for a healthy, happy and outrageous year ahead! And for those of you who will be celebrating Christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! : )

Love Rozalind

Moving in less than two weeks!

Hi Folks,

Can't believe it! I'm moving out of Ottawa in less than two weeks now...

I'll be packing up my stuff and storing it all in my Oma's (Dutch for Grandmother) basement in Acton (it's worth the drive!) just before Christmas. Then, it's off to Calgary I fly on Jan 4th! Exciting times. I'll be in Toronto from Dec 22 - Jan 4th. New Year's in Toronto it is!

So I'm sure a bunch of you are curious about whether I've found the money for Banff yet. The good news is that I have! A very dear friend of mine has offered to lend me the money to pay for the remainder of my Banff Centre expenses. Guess it was meant to be afterall. Thank goodness for those beautiful folks who offer to help us artists in our times of financial need. It really makes the difference. Without my friend's help, my dreams of going to Banff in January would have been shattered and my future dreams would have been greatly altered. Thank goodness I don't even have to think about that anymore as it was making sleeping at night a little harsh and my days even more stressful. I was so worried that I wouldn't find a way to work it all out and was beginning to give up. But in the end, money is still just money and it should never hold us back from what we really want in life. What's more important is living our lives in ways that we can be truly happy.

I'll be here in Ottawa until December 21st. Sad and happy to be leaving this city. It's definitely time to be moving and time to share my music in new places and with new audiences. Yet, with that being said, I will miss this city so much and the friends I've shared so many magical moments with. It is a really special place and I have met so many beautiful people along the way...Gonna miss you all.

Instead of saying goodbye, I have decided to say "I'll see you soon." Although it will never be the same again as I don't think I'll ever be living here again, I already am looking forward to touring through Ottawa and keeping in touch with everyone.

If you would like to find out what I'm up to when I move, I suggest that you sign up to my Yahoo Group mailing list. You can get to it by visiting the main page of my website: www.rozalindmacphail.com. I'll be sending updates about my adventures every few weeks as well as letting you know about future shows.

Warm Wishes,

Love Rozalind