It has been such a busy couple months I haven’t had a chance to share with you some of the interesting developments lately. At the beginning of the year, I was contacted by our local Arts Council of Santa Cruz County about participating as a story collector in the Ebb & Flow Festival this year.

Ebb & Flow is a celebration of our own San Lorenzo River that flows through downtown Santa Cruz, and incidentally near my house further up the valley up in the hills. I’ve worked with Ebb & Flow for the past several in which the Shantyboat Dotty was present at both the downtown and Tannery celebrations.

This time, the folks at the arts council making Ebb & Flow happen wanted to build the celebration around a series of stories from river people who shared a connection with the San Lorenzo River.

On two separate dates, we interviewed a score of people who had a connection to the San Lorenzo River, including birders, anglers, river neighbors, conservationists, and houseless people living along the river.

Leading up to Ebb & Flow, these interviews will be used to inspire a dance performance and excerpts will be shared on social media. At Ebb & Flow on June 7th, the interviews will be exhibited on the Shantyboat Dotty as part of the exhibit.