This image of me in front of a White Mountains Mobil station takes me right back to my childhood—and the song “Gold” by John Stewart only deepens the feeling. “My buddy Jim Bass he’s working pumping gas and he makes 2.50 for the hour.”
I was just a kid from New Hampshire, spending holidays at my grandparents’ place, listening to K-Tel tapes full of songs about California dreams. My grandpa owned a Mobil station, just like this one.
Back then, those lyrics made California feel like a faraway fantasy. Now, when I hear them, I’m transported not forward—but back. To simpler days, to a humble 70s life filled with wonder.
So surreal.
