We live in an interesting time. If you watch public television or subscribe to National Geographic, you may end up knowing more about the world's tropical rain forests than you know about the things growing in your own back yard. There are easy ways to remedy this situation. One is to spend time on your hands and knees getting to know the plants... Spade the soil; plant something and watch it grow. If you want to make something from wood, use the woods in your own community. If you don't have time for such things, invest in the lives of your neighbors. Turn off the TV and go to your local bar for a night of local music. It may be better than your iPod, or at least more interesting and real. Go to your local farmers market to shop. The produce may not be as beautifully displayed as at your Walmart Supercenter, but it will be more lovingly grown, and the investment you make in your local farmers will return many fold. Any opportunity you take to invest in the lives of your neighbors is better than investing in iron gates and guards to keep them out and a great deal more rewarding.

So, think globally. The needs of the planet at this point are for us to become grounded in community, less dependent on transportation and imported oil, more fully invested in the growth of skills, and the unlimited possibilities of growth in each other.

And it all starts with the hands... how much more local can you get?

The photo above is the stone wall outside my office window. One of the best ways to build skill (and quality of life) in your own community is to put craftsmen to work. Ron and Stacy, two of our local craftsmen are excellent stone masons in a town noted for the beauty of our stone walls and masonry. The stone is local Arkansas sandstone.