Rocket

I haven't worn the Rocket much in the past, because it resides in my second box of pins, and I don't look in that one very often. But it's a really appealing pin, with an optimistic, '50s sci-fi feel to it. I'm wearing it today because it nicely represents my imminent flight home and the end of the countdown to the four-day Thanksgiving weekend.

Like some of my other pins, this one's meaning can be varied by changing whether it's ascending, in level flight or descending. Today's steep climb reflects how cheerfully I'm marching towards home, four days of leisure, cocktails and too much to eat, of course.

The Rocket is made of hand-cast pewter, and was designed by Jim Clift, who does lots of things with pewter (though not all of them are to my taste). He has a site dedicated to pins, and there's a keychain version of the Rocket there, but nothing about my pin. Lots of his stuff is cheap and cheerful, which is handy at this time of year...