Jessie Veeder

North Dakota

Columnist at The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead

Singer/songwriter, writer, photographer, blogger, wife and new mom living on a ranch in Western North Dakota. Dirt roads, wind, wheat fields, hope and home.

Articles

Veeder: Of all the people my mom could have belonged to, she chose us

5 days ago | inforum.com | Jessie Veeder

WATFORD CITY, N.D. — I like to imagine my mother before I knew her — before she became a mom for the first time to my big sister and wife to my father. I like to imagine her long straight hair, jeans that hugged her ballerina legs, her high heels clicking along the pavement on her way to a job she was good at, her tan skin on elegant arms that opened out wide to the world. Because it was those open arms that brought me into my world.
Unexpected joys of having your sister live down the road

1 week ago | inforum.com | Jessie Veeder

WATFORD CITY, N.D. — My little sister picked up my video call the other day to reveal that she wasn’t home after school, but in our local Tractor Supply with a cart and a little brown box filled with chirping chicks. Chicks were not on her shopping list, she informed me as she pushed her cart and I watched the ceiling and half of her kid’s forehead on the screen. Especially not Turken chicks. Ever heard of them?
Veeder: Spring has arrived at the ranch

2 weeks ago | inforum.com | Jessie Veeder

WATFORD CITY, N.D. — We’re in the thick of calving these days on the ranch. Little black specks on the hillsides and in the draws are arriving like little beacons of hope with the crocuses. For several years, we have calved mostly pure black animals, but with the addition of Hereford bulls in the program this year, we have more black-and-white-face babies than we’ve had since I was a kid.
Veeder: What makes local diners so special

3 weeks ago | inforum.com | Jessie Veeder

WATFORD CITY, N.D. — When my husband and I take road trips together, we have an unspoken rule that has developed over the years that we continue to abide by: when it’s time to eat and if we have the time, we search for a local diner. Or the local diner, depending on what size of town we’re passing through. It’s my informed opinion as a road warrior that nearly every small town — if they’re lucky — has one they’ve held on to through the ebbs and flows of economic booms and busts.
Veeder: Calving season comes with all sorts of lessons

1 month ago | inforum.com | Jessie Veeder

WATFORD CITY, N.D. — Our first calf of the season arrived last week. It’s a bit early to have too many follow suit, but it’s my favorite reminder that spring is on its way. My dad will keep a closer eye on our herd now, fussing over them, checking the draws and hills and taking notes. We gathered the cows last weekend to sort off a couple bulls that got out.
Having tea and a moment to remember what makes life beautiful

1 month ago | inforum.com | Jessie Veeder

WATFORD CITY, N.D. — Recently, I spoke and sang at a local women’s event in my hometown. It was a tea party, and the room was full of ladies dressed in their best, seated around sweetly decorated table settings. I stood on the stage in front of them and imagined how much needed to be arranged and rearranged in their schedules to get them in these seats on a Saturday morning. The sitters or the kids’ sports runners. The newborn baby holders so she could get a shower in.
America in one room was a beautiful sight to behold

1 month ago | inforum.com | Jessie Veeder

WATFORD CITY, N.D. — Recently, our high school student council members held their third Community Cultural Fair alongside parent-teacher conferences. The large fieldhouse typically used for open gym and youth volleyball and basketball practices was lined with tables and décor from over 20 different countries that are represented in our community. Behind those tables stood students and community members serving samples of food from their respective cultures.
Memories from family vacation always last long after returning

1 month ago | inforum.com | Jessie Veeder

WATFORD CITY, N.D. — There’s ocean sand on the floor of my landlocked North Dakota home and seashells in a plastic cup on my kitchen counter. The smell of sunscreen and the ocean lingers in my laundry room as I let our vacation clothes pile up for a few more days, beach wear underneath dusty Carhartts underneath button-up shirts underneath spaghetti-sauced sweatshirts. My 7-year-old has a little tan line on her shoulders, her skin kissed by a more tropical sun.
A good day to be a horse

2 months ago | inforum.com | Jessie Veeder

WATFORD CITY, N.D. — I like it when the clouds are puffy and white, floating against a clear blue sky. It makes me feel like I am not so small after all, like I could reach up and pluck one out of the sky, put it on an ice cream cone and go walking through the pastures, taking licks and bites of the sweet fluff as I make my way to the hilltops.
Art of the Cowgirl event an inspirational gathering of women

2 months ago | inforum.com | Jessie Veeder

WATFORD CITY, N.D. — I spent last week in the desert of Arizona, where all the northern cowboys go to play and ride horses and escape the deep freeze of winter. For five days, Wickenburg turned into a mecca of Western culture. Well, cowgirl culture, specifically, as tents and arenas and food trucks popped up in the name of an event known as Art of the Cowgirl.