A blizzard rolled in today, not entirely out of the ordinary but somewhat abnormal. Late March snowstorms are part and parcel around here, but an actual blizzard, less so.

Over a foot of snow has fallen, with visibility oscillating between clear and 100ft. The plows are working around the clock to try and keep up, focusing on the main routes and roads and getting to the side streets as they can. Major freeways were closed and re-opened, with ominous warnings such as treacherous conditions and extremely dangerous conditions circulating.

In the city, the roads were mostly silent today, the still air broken by the sound of a snowplow going by. A couple kids roamed the neighborhood, trying to make snowballs but without much success. Thwarted by the poor snow conditions and the wind, they returned to their homes.

Heading downtown to run a quick errand, the grey sky met the ground with a haze of snow. A solitary man walked down the middle of the road, with what appeared to be his thumb stuck out. “A hitchhiker” I said to myself. Getting closer to the man, I could hear him yelling unintelligibly and flipping off the buildings on the east side of the street.

10 minutes later, with my errand complete; I came upon the same man, further north but still in the middle of the road. He wasn’t flipping anything off, but the unintelligible yelling continued. He jaywalked through one of the largest intersections in town, and yelled at cars who went past him. Clearly the man was in some sort of a state, but what state that was I was unsure. He walked east towards the bus terminal.

As night marches on, the snow continues to fall, and the temperature continues to drop. Warnings continue to be issued, the sheriff urges everyone to stay off the roads as they’re getting too dangerous. Maybe it’s the cold, or the reduced visibility, but most people heed the sheriff’s warning and stay inside.

The city hunkers down, and the still air is broken by the sound of a snowplow going by.