Kate, aboard one of the largest driftwood stumps ever seen in all of human history.  (well....it's REALLY big!)  This stump was found on a beach across the street from her former home on Whidbey Island, Puget Sound, Washington.  The beach is located on the dishearteningly named, "Useless Bay."  That's really its official name!  How sad.

Kate served with AmeriCorps for a year after graduating high school, and had one of the most life-changing, fulfilling, rewarding, and challenging years of her life.  A published poet, avid outdoorswoman, and sailor, she is now attending the University of Vermont to study environmental science and writing.  All right, I confess, we're incredibly proud of her.