Author: Kelly Babcock

Kelly Babcock is a stay at home father of one brilliant little man born in October of 2022. Kelly is also a published blogger, author, freelance journalist and song writer. He is a poet, musician, contractor and contemplator of life and other silly notions. He is commander of a memory research team of one, that often goes on days long expeditions into his own memories or ones he makes up. Also, he is a connoisseur of coffee.

Summertime

Kelly Babcock Leave a comment

It’s almost exactly the middle of Summer. It’s a time I personally adore. I mean, I’m one of those people that loves the season I’m in when I’m in it. But there’s something about summer that makes me feel good.

And I have to point out that I’m a realist. Summer starts three weeks in to June and it ends three weeks in to September for me. I don’t make the rules I just live by them. I don’t cheat Spring out of her rightful holdings and I recognize her for what she is, transition from Winter to Summer. And as such, Spring is some of Read more

My Kind Of Day

Kelly Babcock Leave a comment
My Father's Watch
Time for a story, if you don’t mind.

Fifty to sixty years ago, these third Sundays in June would be spent quietly. We’d wish our father a happy Fathers’ Day and that would mostly be it. My father enjoyed reading and sometimes he’d do that on Sundays. Fathers’ Day was not much different.

I know I’m supposed to be writing about writing, but I have something to say. And this is one of the few forums left me these days so you just listen. It won’t take long and then I’ll be gone for some weeks before there’s another post here from me.

Fathers’ Day, sometimes we’d go fishing, or we’d have a barbecue. But those things happened on other Sundays, even on other days. Beyond wishing dad a happy day and maybe trying to be a little Read more

Why Do I Write?

Kelly Babcock Leave a comment
Rebuilt BBQ
I felt like I should have been grilling myself for details on how this happened.

Why would I waste all this time writing? Well, the hope is that I will make an impression, as I told you in my last post here. But this week I came up with another justification.

Let me explain

And by “explain” I mean let me tell you a story. A few days ago I went looking online for a rebuild kit for the cottage BBQ. I located one finally. Not at the hardware store where I bought the BBQ of course, they don’t deal in that kind of hardware. I found one at the dreaded Amazon. And as luck would have it there were two left.

Did I click “buy now?” Read more

You Are A Story Teller

Kelly Babcock Leave a comment
My son and I telling each other stories.

I have spent years crafting my language. No, not English specifically, I’m not responsible for that mess, but the English words I choose when talking or writing are my language.

And you have your own language as well. When you tell a story there are grammatical constructs and turns of phrase that you favour. Even your choice of spelling when there are options speaks to “your Language.”

And there are many things that have informed my language, I want it to make people think, I prefer it to be a bit witty, I want it to be clear and concise without being Read more

Did You Break Even?

Kelly Babcock 2 Comments
Did I break even?

I’m sorry, in my family we can be a little bit irreverent. We often had Christmas morning as individual nuclear family units and then gathered at one place for the overwhelming family dinner.

And as family members greeted each other the question, “Did you break even?” was often asked of what you’d given and what you’d received.

It was, of course, rhetorical, and meant to be humorous, all in good fun. It was always responded to by laughter, sometimes it was answered but only if it was funny to do so. No one meant any harm, it was Christmas after all and we are Read more

Writing is life

Kelly Babcock Leave a comment
I was hesitant to actually write down words, for fear I’d have to admit to their ownership I suppose.

Twenty-five years ago I wrote rarely. That is, I wrote rarely with pen and paper or on a keyboard.

I often thought of things I would have written. I don’t mean that I thought, “I should write a story about some cats who tried to change their world.” I mean I used to think long segments of stories that I made up, stopping and fixing things in my mind as I went.

I’d churn out paragraphs of stuff, maybe good enough to be written down and shared with the world, but since I didn’t consider myself Read more