Rather than going out looking for a groundhog on February 2, I
decided to settle for a picture I took in my back yard in 2010.I
guess this is what the newspapers would refer to as a "file photo."

Spindleville Pond, February 3. While Spindleville is open today,
Hopedale Pond remains covered with ice, but not safe for skating.

Hopedale in February 2012

More pictures will be added during the month.

Hopedale History Ezine - February 1 -
Waiting for William

Hopedale History Ezine - February 15, Abby Kelley Foster

Hopedale in February 2011 (Very different from this year.)

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A little excitement at the Griffin-Dennett Apartments - February 4.
A smoke detector alarm went off one of the resident's told me.

This was the staging area for the Parklands forestry
project. It's a little beyond the end of Overdale Parkway.
Equipment has been removed and the work ended for
now. This winter has been too warm to provide the
frozen ground needed for the heavy machinery.
Click
here to see pictures of the project before work stopped.

Working on a problem across the street from
Hope1842 World Headquarters - February 9.
Since water and sewage are tough to do
without, the work goes on into the night.

Hopedale Airport - February 10. Below, signs
for Hopedale Airport Industrial Park.

Hopedale Pond - February 10.

Hopedale Pond - February 12.
The upper half remains open.

Here's the pond on the 13th.

Neighboring town photo for February - Plains
Automotive, West Street (Route 140), Milford.

House on Hill Street destroyed in a fire
on February 8.
Milford News article.

February 18

Iceout - February 20. Click here to see dates and photos for other years. Will there be a "double
iceout" this year? It seems that being this early, it will freeze over again. I'll keep watching.

Here's one paragraph from a 1980 Milford News article. (The complete article is on the page
linked to in the paragraph above.)

Some of the statistics reveal that the earliest date that no ice could be seen from the
Draper plant at 3:30 PM was March 14, both 1921 and 1953. In 1979, the pond was free
of ice on March 21, while in the year of the great blizzard, 1978, the ice cleared the pond
on April 12. The report which was compiled over the years revealed that 1955 was
almost the warmest year with the ice departing on March 15. Sayings about New
England weather prove true by the report which notes that the next year, 1956, was tied
for the coldest year recorded.

The two little white specs in the water are swans.

The pond, with a skim of ice, at 8 AM on the 21st. The
temperature had dropped into the low 20s overnight,
but went into the 40s during the morning and the ice
didn't last long. The prediction is for temps in the 40s
and 50s during the next two days.

I took this picture of Hopedale Pond from my kayak on February 22. The
pond was just about entirely open, with only a small amount of ice in a
couple of the coves.
Click here for more photos of the pond that day.

With Irene, the October snowstorm and a lot of
windy weather, it's been a tough year to be a tree.

February 26 was a ducky day, though.

 Hopedale Pond - February 29.