The snow was still falling Sunday afternoon in Columbus’ Franklin Park neighborhood, but shovels scraped pavement, snow blowers rumbled, children laughed — and down every snow-blanketed street, some silhouetted person trudged through the flurries.
The county's first-ever Level 3 Snow Emergency may have closed the roads to most drivers, but that didn't stop people from going outside.
On the corner of Oak Street, 10-year-old Jonnisha Goldsmith played in the snow. Her dog, Daisy — a short, scrappy creature — leapt through and over the deepest drifts, barking and burying her face. When a pickup truck with a plow rounded the corner, Daisy fearlessly squared off against it.
Jonnisah said she and Daisy were both enjoying the snow.
“My mom said that she used to be playing in the snow when she was a little kid, so like pretty much we just had to bundle it up a lot and then we can just be outside," Johnnisah said.
She said she had never seen this much snow. Jonnisah couldn't pinpoint the amount on the ground, but she had a guess about how many snowflakes are falling at that moment:
“Nine - wait - nine billion nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine," she suggested.
On the other side of the block, a neighbor, Allen Price, had a more concrete gauge on the snowfall.
“I measured in the back 11 inches on our cement bench," he said.
Price wielded a snow shovel as headed to clear an elderly neighbor’s walkway. The sidewalk in front of his house and his neighbor’s already had a path, thanks to a little snowblower action.
Across the street, Franklin Park sat pristine.
“I saw somebody actually using one of these, the handheld snowblowers, through the park on the walkways, which I thought was strange instead of a truck," Price said. "But I've seen lots of people walking.”
Kyle and Samantha Gandee made the trek to the park from a few streets over. On clear days, the walk takes about three minutes. The snow slowed the journey to more than 10.
Samantha Gandee, in a new wool coat, explained that they followed ruts in the alleyway and walked in the street to reach the park.
"And I made a snow angel over there, if you'd like to see it," she added.
Water continued to fall over the park’s cascades, and a few stubborn ducks floated between thin sheets of ice. Snow clung to every tree branch and every bridge.
Kyle Gandee said he hadn't seen snow like this since he was little. It made him feel like a kid again.
"Just the way it shuts the city down, it gets quiet," he said. "We just saw someone stuck in the East Market parking lot and they're just, you know, people working together. I don't know, (the snow) changes everyone's atmosphere and the way everything is perceived.”
“Like when you're really little, everything seems really enormous and like when the snow is this deep and you have to like really get your legs up, do you know what I mean?" Samantha Gandee added. "When you're trudging through something it makes you feel kind of small again.”
Back near the East Market, two people make their way along the road in matching puffy jackets and snowshoeing gear, poles and all. One of them is Jen Anderson, who lives in the neighborhood. She said the snowshoes had been tucked away in her garage for a long time.
“Back when it snowed more in Columbus, I used to get out and walk around the neighborhood in a lot, but they probably haven't been out for 10 years," Anderson said.
She said she isn't actually a fan of winter.
"But I try to get out and enjoy it, you know, in any way I can," she said.
Anderson and her snowshoeing companion walked on. The snow continued to gather on top of the trolley outside of the Local Cantina. Down the road, Daisy the dog continued barking, and for the few folks who braved the storm, Franklin Park felt a little brighter.
