11. More Sunday Breakfast

I suppose that the adventure of participating in the monthly breakfast at Thomas Talbot Lodge will diminish in interest, but I think today’s breakfast is worth recounting. My next installment for sure will have matter of interest, since I will receive my 3rd Degree. Until then, today’s breakfast.

I arrived at the Lodge around 5:45. The sky was clear and the sun just starting to light the horizon. Spring is in the air. Just Andy, Junior Deacon, was in the kitchen when I got there, but soon Joe, Senior Warden came. I helped chop potatoes, and drank coffee that Past Master Bob brought.

Joe and Andy were speaking about the upcoming degree work then remembered that I was there. It is part of the ritual that one not be schooled beforehand, and I appreciate that. There has been nothing as yet that has been uncomfortable in any way. It is the palpable experience of the symbolism that makes the ritual, at least for me.

They joked about getting the goat ready for the ceremony. I said I had planned to bring my own goat. This I appreciated, as well. I admit I have joked with my wife about Masonic sacrifices, the sort of inflated assumption that rumor invents. If I have not said it previously, I hate conspiracy talk. By that I mean, the sort of wild extrapolation that fills way too many gaps with invention.

Things were in hand in the kitchen so I helped set up the tables. Tony, who I have met before, took charge of the dining room. I learned where things are stored, and how to do things. At 7:45, a couple arrived, hopeful that they would be served because they had to go somewhere at 8:15. Of course they were served.

My wife arrived around 8:30. I took the opportunity to sit with her. It was hard to relax because it was getting busy. After we ate, she left, and I returned to serving.

I had talked up the Sunday breakfast to two of the other Candidates. One, Jeff,  started helping to serve while I was eating, and another, one of the Williams, came with his wife to eat before going to church.

More than 140 people attended the breakfast, which is a record. We emptied the first urn of coffee long before the breakfast was over, and a run to the supermarket for eggs was required.

A large group of weekend bikers fueled up before their ride. It has been just that sort of day when you start thinking of getting outside one way or another. After 10:00, things quieted. We did a clean up. When the dining room was finished, it was 11:00, and I took my leave.