Out of the mist and sleet, against the grayish background of downtown Atlanta, a solitary figure walked down Elliott Street in downtown’s Castleberry community.
It was the Crimson Fist.
He had just left the Elliott Street Deli & Pub, where he picked up a cup of coffee. He stopped in front of the Elliott Street Fire Station on his way back to patrol duty.
“I am the neighborhood superhero,” the Crimson Fist said in a rather obvious statement, considering he was wearing a red mask. “So far things are going well around here. Luckily, people have decided not to drive today and are walking, which is good.”
Castleberry, one of Atlanta’s hottest neighborhoods — with a host of bars, restaurants and galleries — is usually hopping on a Wednesday night. But the constant sleet seemed to convert the area to activity levels more reminiscent of a decade ago, when people were few and far between.
Power was never lost in the area, and the fire station, which served as one of the city’s warming centers, reported no visitors.
But there were still sporadic signs of life.
At the Smoke Ring, a popular neighborhood barbecue restaurant, a few locals straggled in for a drink or a plate of food.
“One of the things about this neighborhood is the local businesses are invested in the area,” said Darius Kirschner, who was enjoying a beer with his neighbor Steven Burns.
Neither one was surprised that the Smoke Ring, in business for about four months, was open.
“Everybody goes to grocery stores. Around here, we go to our neighbors,” Burns said.
But while most of the shop owners live in the neighborhood, Erin and Jordan Wakefield, who own the Smoke Ring, drove in from Kirkwood to open up.
“The last time — a couple of weeks ago, during the big storm — we opened and we remained pretty busy,” Jordan Wakefield said. “We wanted to be open so that people will have a warm place to grab a cocktail, a beer or a whole chicken.”
With that, Kirschner was reminded that he had to take dinner to his girlfriend.
Outside, as the sleet continued to fall, M. Cole Jones stood outside next to a tree and waited for his puppy, a Husky mix named Suede, to do his business.
He said he lost a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with his fiancé.
“So I am walking the dog,” said Jones, who owns a tech startup and is working from home this week. “We are at home cooking a lot. We caught up with some television shows. The DVR is getting a lot of work today.”
At one of the many studios in the neighborhood, a team of artists prepped for a video shoot for an artist named Mums FP.
“We are here because we are scrappy and we have deadlines to meet,” said Rebecca Lovinsquy, the creative director. “This is not really snow anyway. We can handle it.”
They hope. Mums hadn’t shown up yet.
Nearby, Marcus Hendricks found himself walking the dog of his cousin, whose job put her up in a hotel overnight. As the wind cut through Castleberry, Hendricks never flinched, despite not having a hat on.
“I am from Canada. People are talking about a snowstorm, but back home, this is just Wednesday,” Hendricks said.
Hendricks said he works from home, so he has not had to adjust that much.
“I usually walk to CNN to get something to eat, but I can’t now,” Hendricks said. “Not a big deal. Just 48 hours in the house.”
By now Kirschner had met up with his girlfriend, Noelle and her 7-year-old son, Xander.
Xander had hidden a stash of snowballs and attacked Kirschner, while Noelle made a tiny snowman on the sidewalk.
A group walking by joined in the fun and started to lob snowballs at the family. Almost on cue, the Crimson Fist appeared.
Not to restore order, but to join in the fun.
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