Who would have thought my humble little emblem would undergo such a transition in its already short life. What started out as just an idea was quickly embraced by the Austin FMRC chapter and turned into an extremely high quality patch, which is proudly worn by its members. Of course it isn’t like me to just do something and move on… I always have to push the envelope a bit. In this case, I contacted my (online) buddy, David, over at Loner Industries (WARNING: MySpace Page!).

After talking with him a bit I told him that I would really like to get this emblem on an air cleaner cover. A year or so ago I switched over to an exposed filter and picked up a plain HD cover (which was oddly fairly inexpensive for a Harley part). I sent him the measurements of the cover along with an Illustrator file of the emblem which I created for the patches, and a few weeks later he sent back my new cover!

I’ve been riding under a type of “national chapter” with the Freemasons Ride Club for well over a year now. As of late, there have been enough of us in the Central Texas area to form an actual chapter, which we named Hill Country Low Twelve (it’s a Masonic thing). I was very much hoping to be tapped for putting together the web site, so when I was instead asked to design a chapter patch, I was a bit hesitant.

I like to think of myself, on the design side of my job, as more of an arranger of sorts – especially considering the fact that I have no drawing ability whatsoever. Needless to say, there was a lot of arranging going on to come up with this design. In any case, I passed it on to the group and pretty much lost track of it as someone else was tasked with the job of turning my vector art into an embroidered masterpiece.

Well upon opening my Email this morning, what should I find? A scan of the 3.5″ patch from a company that should be cranking out our order for shipping… just in time for ROT! This marks the first time that anything I have done was turned into something tangible – more so something that anyone other than myself would actually want and use.

(Click Image For Larger Version)

This past Saturday marked the date of this years Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament for my Lodge. I was designated the official event photographer which required me to step foot on my first ever golf course. It should be known that I don’t play golf, or have any interest in said activity. This aside, I found two things that will make me love golf unconditionally from this day forward: the golf cart and the acceptable early morning drinking of beer.

It is true that the golf carts don’t obtain record speeds, but those little windy cart paths they expect you to ride on are just begging for some daredevil action. I was able to get my cart on two wheels on numerous occasions as well as laid plenty of rubber down. Good times!

Below is a small (and I do mean small) sampling of some photos which I took of the course and event. I arrived just before the sun came up, which provided some nice photo opportunities.

A lot of information can be found about the building itself on the official website. However, it isn’t until you are actually inside this enormous, full city block sized building that you can even begin to appreciate all the treasure and history which is contained within – and I was fortunate enough to have a private tour by one of my fellow SR Brothers.

The Cathedral is the largest Masonic building, and considered by many as the finest example of Neo-Gothic architecture, in the United States. The main tower features a 54-bell carillon and rises 212 feet above Indianapolis. It also has a floating ballroom. Other features are patterned ceilings, ornate carved woodwork, and artistic stained-glass windows. The auditorium has 1200 seats, and has been called a beautiful testimony to craftsmanship. It also has a large pipe organ.

Public tours are given from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm during the week by same very knowledgeable Rite members. You can also take a virtual tour – but it is no substitute for the real experience.

For your viewing pleasure, each photo below is linked to a larger version.