Personal business, a variety of illnesses, and the best-laid plans (which gang aft aglee) have put croquet onto the back burner for a long, slow simmer since mid-August. Now it's time to dust off our wickets, tighten our mallet-heads, and get our ba . . . Er, what I mean to say is that Thursday noon croquet is set to begin again, starting March 13 with an easy refresher round at Playfields Park in Davis. Anyone who wants to join in is welcome. We'll have at least four mallets, and maybe as many as ten.

Plans for this year include a Flash application for online play, so folks in Oakland and on the road can join in for some Distance Whacking!