A Merry Christmas to all the other atheists here.

[old as dirt]

52. When I first met my wife, ...

When I first met my wife, one of the first stories that she told me about her religion (Roman Catholic) was about how her ancestors ran away some 500 years ago and established a palenque, El Palenque del Castigo in the Patía valley.

They were called "cimarrones", and were among the very first "illegals" here in América.

In the Patía valley they climbed a mountain, to the top of el cerro del Manzanillo, to see if they could see África. When they couldn't see África, they played their drums and cried.

Whenever their descendants were sad, like their ancestors before them, they would also climb to the top of el cerro del Manzanilla, and look out to see if they could see África, and when they could not, they would play their musical instruments and cry.

Over time all of those tears coalesced to form a lake.

El cerro del Manzanillo is a magical mythological and geographical place.

As it happens, my wife was born very close to it, and when she was a child more than half a century ago, there was a rumor going around Patía that la Virgen María had appeared at the top of el cerro del Manzanillo, so her and her friend climbed to the top to see if they could see Her.

Here's the best video documentary available about my wife's religion. It's got some of the best views of el cerro del Manzanillo in the second half that are available on the web.

Bambuco Patiano - Bambuco Negro