Parking at the Castle Green

Last time I painted the Castle Green Apartments, I got a parking ticket. This time I ensured that parking enforcement would not go unnoticed. That's my car. A slightly wonky version (my painting, that is) of a 1992 Honda Accord Wagon.

I could tell you about the jazz benefit that was going on in the park, or about the young paramedic who interviewed me on the meaning of life for his college project. I could tell you about the meaning of life. But I sense you want some history.

In the late 19th Century, Pasadena was hugely popular with tourists from other parts of the country, who came for the mild winter weather. Railroads and hotels were built to accommodate them. One or more of the huge fine old hotels fell victim to fires in those days of gaslights. The Webster House was the first fireproof building in Pasadena. It was purchased from Mr. Webster by civil war Colonel George Gill Green, whose family fortune came from patent medicines. Green expanded the hotel, and built the luxurious annex that that became known as the Castle Green. Colonel Green marketed two elixirs, "Green's August Flower" and "Dr. Boschee's German Syrup." The German Syrup definitely contained an opiate, and August Flower probably did also. August Flower was touted for its benefits in curing dyspepsia. Possibly it was responsible for the untimely death of the woman in white who haunts the Castle Green. Or perhaps I just made that up.