Jane's treasured NASA pin reminded me of my own treasured hippo keychain.

My high school English teacher had a statuette of this hippo from the Met, but I'd never known where it had come from. It had become the unofficial mascot of the senior class, and people used to steal it and hide it in various places. So when I visited the Met in 2001, I was kind of dumbfounded when I saw this ancient Egyptian hippo statue which, to me, had always just been that goofy hippo from high school. So I bought this keychain as a little memento, not realizing I'd become really attached to it.

The keychain has gotten quite beaten up over the years, and both times I've been back to the Met since 2001, I've looked for a replacement for it, but they don't seem to sell it anymore. The more I carry it around, the more I kind of adore and identify with this little hippo.

The seemingly benign appearance that this figurine presents is deceptive. To the ancient Egyptians, the hippopotamus was one of the most dangerous animals in their world. The huge creatures were a hazard for small fishing boats and other rivercraft. The beast might also be encountered on the waterways in the journey to the afterlife. (More about the hippo)

I'd really like to think of myself as seemingly benign, but actually dangerous.