February 5, 2007. A day I will never forget. This was the first time being inside the lodge and meeting people. They were all extremely nice, and gave me kind words of encouragement. There were several people around, and even visitors from other lodges. One of the visitors was from a lodge in Scotland. Amongst the people were two other candidates. They were both nice people, both equally as nervous.

The lodge I belong to is called a "Moon Lodge". That means that the lodge meets on or very near the full moon, and then basically every other friday or so. Anyway, we were issued bookets about the history of Florida Masons and given a nice meal. Soon, they all went upstairs and we were downstairs by ourselves... waiting.

I could hear walking around upstairs and the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I was having second thoughts about this. Eventually we were called upstairs and met in a small room adjoing the lodge room. We were then made ready, and waited. Made ready means we were prepared for the degree, in several ways.

I won't describe the degree for several reasons. The main reason is, its more fun to experience it. Looking back, part of the fun was the unexpected. But, I will tell you this. I found the degree very solemn and sincere. What's neat is, what I just went through was the same thing my grandfather, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and John Wayne went through. Know what else? Nothing was satanic. No one hurt me, or made me do questionable things.

After the degree, I was given a small book which was coded. I was taught how to decypher the code and I was given a study partner. After several weeks of learning the text, I was given the opportunity to recite what I learned before the lodge. That was an experience, but I did fine. They all congratulated me and seemed excited for my next degree.