You may be wondering where the name “Musical Mantis” comes from. This is my “Indian Name” that I received as a Junior Counselor and then Counselor and Camp Ridgecrest in 1987.
As the story goes, every staffer receives an “Indian name” in which they earn during the first several weeks at camp. If the “Little Chiefs” (the official naming body) like you–you get a fairly good name. If you really make an impression, you may wind up with something like “Confused Commando”. Either way, you are stuck with it…for life.
Luckily, I didn’t do too much to stand out so they saw that I was thin and my family is musical. The first choice was “Musical Walking Stick” But that was three words, and not as easy to say–so then came “Musical Mantis” and that’s the story.
[…] began blogging during my first deployment in Iraq. I began a blog on OpenDiary.com called “The Musical Mantis“. The entries on that short blog were simple and detailed some of life in Iraq. Soon, I began […]