Was the Barcelos Rooster My Father's "Spirit Animal"?

I’m surprised I never made the connection between the profound identification I feel with the gecko, my “spirit animal” as I half-jokingly call it, and my father’s fascination with o galo de Barcelos (the rooster of Barcelos, a Portuguese icon). I’ve known others with strong animal identifications – my late stepmother Judy collected elephant statues and figurines, my friends the Leons in Vermont have their home decorated with a tortoise symbol, and Austin High School math teacher Elvie Swail surrounds, and adorns, herself with frogs of all kinds.

I’m sure we all have our own, very personal reasons for choosing our various creatures. For me, the gecko is an animal I associate with the innocence of my childhood, when I routinely found salamanders resting under the rocks in my backyard. These same lizards became a comfort to me during my restorative summer after my divorce in 1994 in Big Indian, New York.

Now, years later, my life having landed in a much happier place, and with my spirit animal permanently tattooed on my right shoulder nearly ten years ago, during my honeymoon in Montreal (I’m referring to the marriage that took, obviously) I find myself wondering about the Barcelos Rooster. It was an image we grew up with. My father had a collection of maybe eight of them or so, along with a couple of roosters from other cultures, as well.

I don’t recall my father’s reasons for collecting the porcelain statues. Of course, the significance of Portugal is at the core of my father’s identity, it being the first country – before the United States – to give him and his family refuge from the Nazis. The Fuchses resided in Lisbon where Hanno became skilled in both English and soccer, attending a British school with his brother Geoffrey. The place made a lasting impression on him, and I’m sure his brightly-colored galos brought back fond memories of the Portugal of his past, in the late 1930’s.

My second tattoo, of the running fox, was a tribute to my father and our family name. It occurs to me that the Barcelos rooster might make another fitting tribute, while staying within the animal motif of my first two tattoos. I’ll do some asking around to find out about artists that my Austin-area friends might recommend. It appears to be time for tattoo number three.

Post-script: Interestingly (and to add an element of mystery to this post), I have no idea where my father's roosters are today. The search is on . . .