The Graveyard Shift!

       TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH

   We've been home from our Ireland/Scotland trip
for a week now. That's long enough! Time to get
moving again!
    So, my wife and I and two good friends set out
on a road trip.
    First stop.....Salem, Mass!
    Salem, as many of you know, is commonly
associated with Witches! And, as Halloween
gets closer, more and more witches or would-be
witches show up around these parts.
    By October 31st there will be so many in town
that it will be hard to tell which witch is which!
    But while tourists, actors, and those who
really believe they're witches show up for what
amounts to a big Halloween party, the real tragic
story of what happened here in the 1600's is told
in dramatic fashion in a small yard just next to,
but walled off from, the town's oldest cemetery.
     The yard is enclosed by a stone wall. At first
glance you'll notice what seem to be small stones,
almost like seats, sticking out from the wall.
      A closer examination revels the names of
former Salem area residents......and the dates they
were hanged or, in one case, crushed to death by
stones!
      Each represents someone executed as a witch.
      They're not actually graves. No one was ever
told where their bodies were buried because, of
course, they were considered witches!
      They were accused by a handful of young
girls from the town who might have caused
hundreds to be executed until they made the
mistake of accusing the Governor's wife!
       That's when the Salem Witch Trials ended
and a new principal of American Law......
Innocent Until Proven Guilty....came into effect!
        So, Salem is a great place for a history
lesson....or.....a great place to have your fortune
told or palm read....especially in these weeks
leading up to Halloween!
        I've seen just one witch so far. But, who
knows, the next one may be right around the
corner!
        Hope she looks like Elizabeth Montgomery
on Bewitched and that all your NEWS is good!