LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A teenage girl hopped out of a car at a red light as the snow pelted down, and handed a red wool blanket to a stranger.
"God bless you," said Shawn Harmon, who held his dog's leash in one hand and a sign that read "need work!" in the other.
"You two try to stay warm," 19-year-old Michelle Smith told him. She leaned down and rubbed the wet, shivering dog, then hurried back to her car before the light turned green.
Harmon and Tucker, a bluenose pitbull, stood at this intersection for hours, despite the freezing temperatures and a blizzard expected to dump between 4-7 inches of snow in Louisville by midnight Friday. Other parts of the state and East Coast were staring at potentially 2 feet of snow.
Homeless shelters across the region were welcoming anyone during the storm, but Harmon said the local one won't take dogs. And he won't leave Tucker. He needed $20 more for a $75 motel room.
"Don't worry, buddy, won't be long now," he told Tucker.
A window rolled down and a man handed him $2: "Good luck, get inside," the man said as he drove away, and Harmon shouted blessings to him, too.
Earlier, a woman came by and gave him a coat through the window. He strapped it around his dog. The hood sagged down over Tucker's snout.
Harmon said he's bi-polar and has struggled for years to hold down a regular job or keep an apartment. He and Tucker usually sleep in a tent.
The snow, and perhaps the kindness, made the day more manageable.
"It just seems a little better when it's snowing," he said, "a little warmer, even though it's not."
