today VA governor, Tim Kaine pardons...a convicted witch!

Word of the day:  preen\PREEN\ verb:  1 of a bird : to groom with the bill.  2 : to dress or smooth up : primp.  3 : to pride or congratulate (oneself) for achievement.  4 : gloat.

"We are the future, our lives as we lead them are passed on to others, whether in physical or mental forms, tingeing all future lives together.  This should be enough for one who lives for truth and service to his fellow passengers on the way."  Luther Burbank, Horticulturlist

Pungo, VA is rich in folklore about Grace Sherwood and her alleged witchcraft.  To me, this story points further to the perputation of the concept of Puritanism dating back to the first settlers to the U.S.  The famous Witch of Pungo -- who supposedly accursed Tidewater farms in the 17th and 18th centuries -- has been cleared of all charges, namely that she was ever a witch.

Last Monday, 300 years after Grace Sherwood was convicted at a trial that saw her thrown into the Lynnhaven River with her thumbs tied to her feet, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine pardoned her. The rules of the trial were simple: If you floated, you were guilty of being a witch; if you sank, you were cleared. And dead.

Sherwood floated.

She served more than seven years in jail, was released and lived until she was 80. She is the only person convicted in Virginia by a "witch ducking trial."

I believe she floated because she was smart and using the resource literally at hand for her.  She used her free fingers to trap air inside or around her dress during her watery descent to make herself float back to the top of the river.  In the 1700's the typical dress for women was large skirts and clothing covering most all of the female body - another Puritianistic concept.  I believe she ultimately had the upper hand on the whole situation.  For if she drowned she'd been proven innocent of her crime.  Because she didnt and that she floated further perpetuated the townspeople's idea that she truly was a witch.  This put fear in them, saved her life and gained her a place in the towns folklore for centuries to come.  I think she was simply smart and resourceful.