Sunday Column: What it means to be my sister…

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

There are many best parts of living back at the ranch.

The familiarity of it all, the nostalgia of the things that surrounded me as a kid growing up wild.

Watching the sunrise out the big windows in the morning and the deer come out from the trees to water in the dam.

Endless trails, endless unexpected adventures.

Endless expected adventures.

And endless ways to test my patience, my capabilities, my creativity and my muscles.

But the best is simple.

The best is that I’m surrounded by all of these things…the big blue sky, the old oak trees, the bullberries, the tall grass, the big red barn, the cattle and the horses in the hills.

I’m surrounded by these things that I love, but I love them even more because I’m also surrounded by family.

And family, above all of it, is our greatest gift.

Coming Home: “Miss Veeder” once more with sister back in town
by Jessie Veeder
11/17/13
Fargo Forum
http://www.inforum.com

Sunday Column: Rooted

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

My dad is a man who is rooted.

He knows what he loves and he loves it wholeheartedly. He showed us how to stay planted while finding our wings. He taught us how to sing and how to ride a horse.

He taught us that sometimes the best idea is to take a moment to sit on the hilltop, look around and say “wow, isn’t this something.”

His outlook on life has been his greatest gift to me. His love for place flows through our blood.

Happy Father’s Day to a man who worked hard to make this my home.

Coming Home: Discovering history, past and future
by Jessie Veeder
6/16/13
Fargo Forum
www.inforum.com

Sunday Column: More misadventures.

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

My goodness it’s absolutely gorgeous out here these days. The rain has turned to sun and everything’s green and fresh, I want to soak it all in so badly that not even the “little hangover” I caught from the Miranda Lambert concert last night was going to deter me from showing up a “little late” to get in on the action of at our neighbor’s branding.

Now I’m smelly and sweaty and sunburned and just kinda, still a little hungover.

Ah well, as you’ll read in this week’s column, I always seem to find a way to make life a little more difficult.

But mostly, really truly, seriously, pretty much I most definitely, almost always have fun. And I don’t care what you say, you can never have too much of that.

Too much to drink? Well, that’s another issue…

Coming Home: Mishaps provide plenty of stories
By Jessie Veeder
June 9, 2013
Fargo Forum
www.inforum.com

Hope your weekend was free of mishaps.

Or full of them, you know, depending on your definition of the word.

Sunday Column: When the right words fail us.

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

It’s a beautiful weekend. The sky is blue, the wind has chilled out and the crocuses are in full bloom.

Words don’t do justice to the way 70 degrees feels after a long winter. And as a woman always searching for the right language, this week’s column is about how, when it comes to beauty, our words sometimes fails us.

Enjoy whatever sun you can find today!

Coming Home: Finding right words not always easy
By Jessie Veeder
May 5, 2012
Fargo Forum

Sunday Column: New kids in town

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Well, it looks like spring found us after all.

And thank goodness, because the nice weather makes us all better, happier, more motivated versions of ourselves.

At least it’s supposed to.

Although I think it may not apply to those of use who have to stay inside to tile a bathroom on the first nearly 80 degree day of the year.

But that’s ok. I’ll get my chance to enjoy when the work’s done. I’m just happy for the kids around here, especially the ones who have come to Boomtown from less blustery and more southernly states.

We promised it would warm up kids, and we keep our promises around here.

Enjoy the warm and enjoy this week’s Fargo Forum column on the new kids in town.

Coming Home: Warm welcome to new kids in our state
By Jessie Veeder
April 28, 2012
Fargo Forum

Sunday Column: Living with the wild things

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Well, party people, look what the weekend drug in.

Snow and rain and not a green thing in site. Thanks to everyone who’s been sharing thier spring photos on the Facebook page and email. Every pretty flower cheers me and every snow flurry makes me feel less alone in this arctic tundra!

It’s not too late to get in on the game! Whether the birds are chirping in the warm sunshine or retreating back to the southern climates, abandoning the whole migration idea all together, show us how spring is shaping up in your neck of the woods and I will post them all on the website Monday. Our favorite photo will win a copy of my new album “Nothing’s Forever” and a print of a warmer and prettier spring day at the Veeder Ranch.

So make (and warm up) my day and post your photos on the Facebook page or send me an email at jessieveeder@gmail.com

In the meantime, read my Fargo Forum column on the other unpredictable thing around here–wildlife.

Coming Home: Humans, beasts learn to coexist.
Jessie Veeder, Fargo Forum
April, 21, 2013

Because like snow in April, some things just need to keep thier distance.

Peace, Love and Sunday Pancakes,

Jessie

Sunday Column: What quiet means.

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

We’re in the middle of a full-on April blizzard, blowing in strong and fierce across the state, promising feet of snow to settle on the tops of the buttes that were drying out quiet nicely last week.

It’s the kind of weather that’s hard on ranchers and calves being born. The kind of weather that makes North Dakotan’s say, “Well, enough is enough,” and book flights to Arizona, or Houston, or Jamaica, or someplace where people don’t remember what snow looks like.

But a flight out of here for us is out of the question, and just last weekend those hills accumulating snow were working on drying out quiet nicely. So I climbed to the top, looking for a chance to clear my head.

Looking for some quiet.

And I thought about what that meant as trucks rolled by on the red scoria road and birds came home.

Visit the link below to read my Fargo Forum column, “Coming Home”

Finding a new quiet in Boomtown
Jessie Veeder, Fargo Forum
Published 4/14/2013
Fargo Forum

The Fargo Forum is a newspaper out of Fargo, ND, in eastern North Dakota’s, the state’s largest city.
My columns on life in Western North Dakota appear each Sunday in print at online at www.inforum.com

Sunday column: On living with the time we’re given.

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Every Sunday I write a column for the Fargo Forum, an eastern North Dakota newspaper out of the largest city in our state, Fargo. The column focuses on life out here in Western North Dakota and what it means to be making a life back home in the buttes and oil fields.

Those of you who follow Meanwhile, back at the ranch on Facebook and @Veederranch on Twitter have probably caught these columns as I post the online versions there each Sunday.

But I’ve been thinking it might be worth while to share the columns here with you each Sunday as they are published to give you another perspective of life out here and something to browse while you’re enjoying your morning pancakes and coffee.

And if you haven’t yet, I recommend checking out Meanwhile, back at the ranch in the big, wide, world of social media to get more photos, more observations, more chaos and more pictures of the one-eyed-pug you all love so much despite my best efforts to de-fame him.