During the Governor’s Stay-at-Home Order many utilized the time to spend with family and complete honey-do lists and other projects around the house. Chris Thomas of Kinder decided to tackle items on his bucket list.
Now those who know Thomas or have met him in person will realize in a few minutes the man is a gym rat – addicted to making muscles. He likes to stay healthy and looks like a body builder. When he’s not body building, he is working at the Allen Parish District Attorney’s office in Oberlin.
Thomas said his bucket list includes learning to crochet and growing a garden. “I want to learn how to crochet a blanket with green, white and purple colors. I figured by the time winter came I would have one done.”
After thinking about it, he decided gardening would be his first item to complete. He went to Tractor Supply and bought some plants and fertilizer. “I took a month studying it; did the farmer’s almanac. I did all this old crazy stuff,” he laughed.
Then he began putting the plants in the ground. “It looked bad – real bad in the beginning. However a few days later, they were blooming.”
Thomas, 54, chose a variety of things to grow for the first time. He’s the last of five boys. His oldest brother will be 71 in December. He said he sure appreciated what his mom and dad did for them as they grew up in Kinder.
Thomas planted roses and azalea bushes. And for nutritional purposes, he added cucumbers, bell peppers, banana peppers, Creole tomatoes, etc. “I thought surely they would grow. They are Creole, and I speak Creole.”
Next week, he will put those Creole tomatoes on stakes. They are turning green and doing well at this time he said.
“I’m hoping to do some season blend,” he said. It’s what he told his sister when she asked what he was going to do with the produce. “I can’t wait for them to grow. I want to share them with my brothers and neighbors. Anthony (his brother) likes peppers when he eats his gumbo.”
Thomas is excited his project has flourished. He said he’s gaining some knowledge and enjoying his fruits of labor. He also had an advantage. He planted on some property the family has and the soil is blessed. Everything there grows. He remembers putting orange trees there and a couple of years later there were multiple trees with lots of oranges. There’s fig trees too. “Nothing there withers and dies.”
Thomas said he may try his hand at some fall crops. He also wants to plant more rose bushes and share those beautiful roses with his elderly friends, at the nursing homes and with the sick.
“I don’t do this for myself,” he said. “If God gives me energy and time, then I can do it and give it to other people. I don’t have a lot, and I don’t need a lot.”
Now he’s considering crocheting a blanket. He said he just needs to do one blanket one time. After it’s done, he can take it off his bucket list. “Once I master it, I can put it aside.”
When asked if he’s going to the gym these days and talking gardening to the guy next to him instead of muscles, he laughed. He agreed they are probably looking at him a little weird, but it’s okay. One more item scratched off his list. Next he might choose to crochet while waiting for the next weight machine to open for his use. Thomas is just enjoying life.
