Patio Pondering LLC

05/29/2026

Baking Soda in the Flour Jar

In our specialized world we tend to pigeonhole people, throwing them into canisters like those on grandma's counter filled with baking ingredients. Separated and not to be mixed unless needed.

05/28/2026

Next week, as the pork industry gathers at the National Pork Producers Council World Pork Expo in Des Moines, I’ll be sharing a conversation that kept pulling me back to one idea…

Agriculture only works when we remember the human element behind the systems, technology, and policies.

This clip from my conversation with Lori Stevermer stuck with me.

Full conversation drops Tuesday morning.

05/28/2026

A Netflix documentary sent me down a rabbit hole this week. What I found wasn't really about one court case.

Calling out the full truth of a person's life is not victim blaming. It is not cruelty. It is the only honest accounting available to us. A truthful picture includes the parts that are hard to look at. That is not an attack on someone's memory. It is a refusal to trade reality for comfort.

05/27/2026

Crying Wolf with the CC Line

The CC'ing of someone's boss is a huge Red Flag that says "The receiver of this message is NOT doing their job." It is a maneuver that should be reserved for when necessary.

05/27/2026

I'll be at World Pork Expo in Des Moines next week, June 4–5. If you're headed that way, I'd like to connect. Some things are still better worked out in person than over a screen.

05/26/2026

Not every student is headed toward a four-year degree.

And not every successful life requires one.

In this episode, Dr. Tom Kingery and I discuss the students who often get overlooked — the “lost kids in the middle” — and why agriculture education, skilled trades, and hands-on learning still matter.

This was one of the more thought-provoking conversations I’ve had recently because it touched on something many families are wrestling with right now:
How do we help young people find meaningful work and purpose?

We also discuss:
• FFA and ag education
• skilled trades shortages
• college pressure
• workforce development
• teaching beyond the test
• preparing students for real careers

Listen here:

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05/21/2026

The Last Walk Across the Floor

Grief does not respect the calendar. That father posting a video nearly a year later is not falling apart. He is holding on. He is making sure his son is not forgotten, that the walk across that gym floor still counts for something, that the world knows Donovan was here and that he was extraordinary

05/20/2026

Uncomfortably Comfortable

The cloudy weather matches my mood this morning, a feeling shared by many farmers in our area. I put an extra scoop of coffee grounds in the coffee maker this morning so my coffee is a bit stout as I look out over the dreary landscape in our backyard. As my coffee jolts me awake I am thinking about

05/19/2026

Managing people sounds simple… until you are the one responsible for keeping the doors open.

In this episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast, I sit down with fellow Purdue FarmHouse brother Lee Stanish — proprietor and pitmaster of Eddie Joe’s Icehouse near Lafayette, Indiana.

What started as a conversation about employee management turned into a deeper discussion about leadership, work ethic, resiliency, team building, and the realities of running both a business and a volunteer organization.

We also discuss the leadership lessons learned while helping guide the effort to rebuild the Purdue FarmHouse chapter house.

This is not a conversation about barbecue recipes. It is a conversation about people.

🎧 Episode: “The Hard Part Isn’t the Cooking”

05/18/2026

When Excellence Becomes Mundane

But as I sat there with a few tears streaming down my cheek I realized that this type of performance is exactly what I've come to expect from the students led by Mr. Colby Stackhouse. He has made excellence in performance mundane because it is now expected, anticipated.

05/15/2026

The Last Five Percent

The lesson I am taking from my patio this morning is simple: declare victory after the walk-through, not before it. A finished project is not the one where the list runs out. It is the one where the list runs out and you went back through and nothing jumped out at you.