Submitted by:  Rosene Cronic, 8/21/07
This entry relates to past and present
Category(ies) of this entry:  Picnic Day, Bicycles, Transportation
 
Davis is a modern day Brigadoon.  Alice in Wonderland would enjoy living here.  It is a tangle of unlikely stories and strange customs.  There is a very expensive frog tunnel that has never accommodated a frog.  It was built, I understand, by the city so the frogs wouldn’t have to cross the freeway to get to the other side.
 
There are traffic lights for the bicycles.  With 23,000 college freshmen, as well as other classes and many adults, there are enough bicycles to transport an Asian city.  They are everywhere, and include every possible style of bicycle. City employees, if they are lucky, drive electric cars.  The lovely Mayor holds court under a tent at the Farmer’s Market.  A couple of years ago, the City Council decreed that in this city the Star Spangled Banner could be sung in any key that might make it easier to sing.  The City Council is also known for yelling at one another and meeting until the wee hours of the morning.  They hired a peacemaker but it doesn’t seem to have solved the problem.
 
Once a year, there is a holiday called Picnic Day.  It is the largest event put on entirely by students in the U.S.  There is a parade, displays of every kind in all of the University departments, dog races, all sorts of competitions, and The Battle of the Bands.  Student bands from six universities dress in costumes and go down by the creek to play music until they drop.  There are many stunts, as they play on all day and well into the night.  I think the band that plays the longest wins.  There may not be a prize but everyone has a great time.
 
The bus system is controlled by students and busses are driven by students.  While everyone goes to Woodland to shop at the giant discount stores, they certainly don’t want them in Davis. Where else can you enter a Sunflower contest every year?
 
It may be that one day this magical town will disappear in the mists of the night, reappearing only once every few years, frozen in time.