Blended Together: On Building Soil and Local Community

The dark gray sky warned of an approaching storm as I drove into the small parking lot sheltered by moss-laden trees. The humid summer air clung to my skin beneath the stuffy business clothes I'd just changed into at a nearby gas station. I trotted up a ramp to a purple wooden porch and ducked into the one-story historic house, a manila envelope with a map of trees clutched under my arm and a stack of business cards in my pocket.

Instead of entering a living room off the porch, I found mysel...