Reflection posts:

The Echoes of Downton Abbey

Mark Putnam | 8 Comments | Posted: January 14, 2013

Societal change is difficult to describe, much less interpret accurately.

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Changing Christmas Wishes

Mark Putnam | 1 Comment | Posted: December 17, 2012

The Christmas season began for me each year when the Sears catalog arrived. It had a curious title, “The Wish Book.” First published in 1933, the Wish Book was the source document for many childhood Christmas lists.

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Don’t Crop the Picture

Mark Putnam | 11 Comments | Posted: May 8, 2012

I took this amazing mental photograph of the Lower Falls in Yellowstone National Park during the summer of 1983. Though I didn’t have a camera to record it, the image stays with me. The trouble is my mental imprint is not exactly what most would admire.

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Christmas Has a Way of Growing on You

Mark Putnam | 3 Comments | Posted: December 12, 2011

Christmas through the eyes of a child is always the best view. It’s not that the view is particularly clear, historic or even accurate. Christmas, as we know it today, has been a process of accumulation over generations.

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The Optimistic Gardener

Mark Putnam | 11 Comments | Posted: August 9, 2011

You don’t have to be an optimist to be a gardener, but it helps. My first attempt at gardening in the mid-1990s was a complete disaster. Undeterred, I pressed on and have had much more success in subsequent years, which I think is cause for “growing” optimism. Based on stories I’ve heard from others, I’m not alone. How do we get from failure to renewed optimism as the cycle invariably repeats?

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Reality Check

Mark Putnam | 11 Comments | Posted: June 20, 2011

I live a sheltered life. My work as a college president relies on the splendid efforts of others who are constantly anticipating, preparing, advising, researching, organizing and arranging many aspects of my personal and professional life. It’s a wonderful privilege for which I am very grateful, but sometimes it’s also a mixed blessing. I find it’s easy to lose perspective.

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A People of Rules

Mark Putnam | 7 Comments | Posted: May 3, 2011

I recently attended a luncheon with business leaders in Des Moines. The Honorable Thomas J. Vilsack, former Governor of Iowa and current United States Secretary of Agriculture, was our featured speaker. His remarks were particularly interesting to me since I am in the process of learning more about farming. While I think I understand the basics, I have been trying to appreciate the societal patterns and economic dynamics that accompany a region so influenced by agriculture. I have a long way to go, but Secretary Vilsack offered some helpful insights. His remarks focused largely on global economic trends and U.S. policy as it relates to issues of commerce, trade and energy. It was in the question and answer period, however, that I learned the most. One of our colleagues asked what we might anticipate in the development of the next “Farm Bill.”

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Recovering from Failure

Mark Putnam | 4 Comments | Posted: March 3, 2011

Ferdinand de Lesseps had an immense vision. In the 1880s this flamboyant Frenchman announced a plan to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by a sea-level canal through Panama. He was believable as a developer since he already completed a project for the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869. This skilled and well-connected promoter spoke with great confidence and his style attracted wealth and influence. Through private investment he raised the funds needed to attempt this vast project. He anticipated great success, but his effort would fail miserably leaving corruption and scandal in his wake.

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Lips for Christmas

Mark Putnam | 21 Comments | Posted: December 16, 2010

The smell of bacon caused me to stir. My brother-in-law, Neil, once again proved himself worthy as the executive chef for the traditional Christmas morning breakfast. A sense of duty drove me from the warmth of my cozy cot. Others soon followed in turn. Feeding the growing clan became more challenging as we added littler appetites to our number one by one. Young families require more logistic support, so I stumbled to the kitchen with the promise of coffee just ahead.

To awaken one child on Christmas morning is to awaken all.

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Blessed is Nothing

Mark Putnam | 11 Comments | Posted: November 22, 2010

It was the one place I dreaded to enter– the “place that shall not be named” – the a-t-t-i-c. Our move to Iowa was fast approaching and Tammy continued to remind me that we needed to do this, but I would conveniently find another important task to occupy my time. After all, it was too hot up there, right? And we didn’t have enough bags and boxes on hand to complete the task. That’s it. We just weren’t adequately prepared. We’ll do it next weekend. Despite my brilliant tactical approach to procrastination, the day of reckoning finally came and into the attic we climbed.

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