Ashback # 8 – Wolverine Gull

Hey everybody,

I received a comment on my blog this morning that was left on yesterday’s entry. It not only blew me away, but it also hyper-spaced me down memory lane. It was from an old friend of mine from my childhood. Scratch that, an old best friend of mine, and boy did it instantly put a smile on my face. I literally laughed out loud when I saw the handle that this person had used to post the comment. As you WordPress users already know, comments on your blog are sometimes left there by fellow bloggers, but sometimes they are left from email followers. I pretty much know all my email followers personally as they are mostly friends, family, and the odd coworker past and present. This person though, I believe has been visiting my blog for some time now and has finally made me aware of it in a very subtle way. Well, at least I’m 99.9% sure it is. I mean, it has to be. There is only a few living souls that I know on the face of this earth that would know the legend of the “Wolverine Gull”. (Dramatic voice)

Growing up in a small out port community where I’m from, you had to be very imaginative to make life exciting and interesting when there was really not that much to do. Now, when I say this, I don’t mean that it was boring because we were never bored. Unlike some kids in today’s world, we didn’t spend much time lying around the house. There were no phones, social media, or crazy video games, and even if they existed back in my day, they wouldn’t have kept us barred up inside. No, I can say with great confidence that as a youngster, there weren’t many days that I spent indoors. It’s probably got a lot to do with why I still enjoy being outside to this day. Yes, my buddies and I would ride our bikes, play made-up games, sports, we swam, built rickety cabins with rusty nails in the woods. Oh, and poke the odd dead thing we would find washed up along the beach. Those were just a few examples of how we kept our idle minds at bay. Yes, we did it all, so free and innocent. One of the things we did a lot of was playing “guns”. That’s how we described it. You know, good guys against bad guys. Back then, I had a small group of pals that were reminiscent of something like the movie Stand By Me, or for the younger generation, think Stranger Things. Everyday after school and especially on the weekends we had a playground of rolling hills, huge evergreen trees, beautiful ponds, lakes and ocean all around us that stretched for miles. Our parents had zero worries and never wondered where we were or what we were up to. They knew we would always return in one piece.

That brings me back to the Wolverine Gull. Just writing that is making me grin from ear to ear. OK, so, some of you might not even have the first clue as to what I am talking about, but there was a movie released back in 1984 by the name of Red Dawn. It starred Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey and several other 80’s celebrities. Here’s a link to it’s IMDB page and here’s the plot tag line from that very same page. It is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers band together to defend their town, and their country, from invading Soviet forces. *

Those bunch of kids referred to in the tag line called themselves the Wolverines in the movie and as soon as my friends and I got the chance to see the film ourselves on VHS, we too started to call ourselves by the very same name. We loved it so much that for weeks after, during that same summer, we imitated the movie over and over from daylight to dark. Only, we actually added our own little element to it which became the introduction of the infamous “Wolverine Gull”. Ah, to be a kid again. The seagull was completely at random. A joke really, just something crazy that popped up in one of our crazy heads. It was funny and became sort of a inside running joke between myself and the person who sent me the comment I spoke of in the beginning. Whatever seagull was in the area at the time and flying overhead, we deemed it the same bird. We were so convincing that even other kids in our tiny group thought we were telling the truth given we were a smidge older. No matter where we were or what we were doing we would always look to the sky and say, “Hey look, it’s the Wolverine Gull and he’s come to help”. Haha. It was funny then and it is certainly funny now. A wonderful memory that I will always keep close to the heart. It’s just another reminder of how awesome my upbringing was and how much I miss my old friends and the hillside where we played.

To end it here, I ask what memories have you stored away from your childhood? Are there friends that you have lost along the way from merely growing up and starting your own life and families? How often do you think about the days of old and the people you shared so many cool memories with? I have to admit, I miss those days. Who wouldn’t step into a time machine and go back? At least for a day. I knew immediately after reading my friends comment that I was going to share this story with you here on Earth to Ash. I’m also dedicating this post to my friend, wherever you are. I’ve had a smile on my face pretty much the whole day and couldn’t wait to get this entry out of me.

Thanks my old friend, I will never forget those days and I damn will won’t forget the friendship that we shared. I wish nothing but the best for you and your family and I hope there’s a day in the future where we’ll cross paths again. Maybe share a beer and some of these awesome stories. Wolverines Forever!!!! AD QC CS TS SS