Then the bell tolled & the silence crept behind it & spread like a wave gathering force. There was resistance to it's force, shouts & awkward laughter but in the end only the insects & natural sounds of life were able to surf the surface.

A lot of images flowed through my mind & I looked around at my companions but to watch seemed an invasion & my gaze fell to my feet & I felt the exhaustion of 2005 start to loosen ready to be shed for some kind of transformation. When the bells tolled again the sound hit us like an explosion that was physically painful. The exclamation left my lips "F@#!" & it's breathy force extinguishished my candle in a sudden ominous gesture while candles still flickered around me & were more gently hushed into darkness.

And so the Jigzag tour continues into 2006. There seems to be extremes in the air. Of heat & humidity & endless rain in Woodburn following the festival. I stand with Steve & his sister at the lookout at Evans Head all three of us admiring the lightning when a bolt earths so close to us we feel it' electricity shoot through our skin. As deafening sound erupts in unison with light all rise & run for the car except me- left transfixed & intoxicated. Lightning robs us of power at our Stokers Siding gig. We whisper Jigzag melodies to the crowd despite the storm & draw them in. Strings are broken & laughter & warmth is shared in the hot womb of the hall.

Our van heats up & boils on the way to Wauchope. & we are stranded in Maclean awaiting rescue from Steve & the team van. We fight the clock to still make the gig but the heavens open up, drowning our destination & the phone call comes to halt our desperate race. We cleanse our disappointment in the ocean at Sawtell... & thiis where I write this morning after a restless night full of the sounds of friday night revellers & police sirens.

There is is power in the air around & I am smiling....