2022 recap — knot so loud

Happy New Year everyone!

I wanted to take the time to thank everyone for following along with this blog. I enjoy writing and sharing everything New England, my deafness, my personal stories, etc. It’s you that keeps me motivated to write. I hope that you continue to be here for my 2023 journey!

Here goes my year of 2022:

January started off with a rainy New Year Day in Mystic, CT. We walked around Downtown Mystic, popping into the shops especially the annual sale at Bank Square Books. I picked up ‘Dressmakers of Auschwitz’ and it was a good read. January always brings amazing winter sunsets! I went out a lot chasing those sunsets. It also snowed twice - I love capturing snowy scenes of New England! My doghter celebrated her 9th bark day this month too!

*Mad at Mammy for making her wear the headband!*

*Sunset at Stonington Lobster Trap Tree in Stonington, CT.*

February saw a lot of snow because there was a big snowstorm right at the end of January. I spent 4 days photographing the snow before it melted! I celebrated my birthday earlier in February with a lobster dinner at Abbott’s Outpost in Downtown Mystic. If you ever miss Abbott’s during the winter - go to the Outpost! It is opened year-round. I also had the opportunity to stay in an AirBnB at the Norwich Inn and Spa grounds. That was a learning experience and I realized how much I enjoyed doing that. I wrote about Mystic Oral School here, I finally had the chance to visit the original house in Ledyard when it went up on the market. It was so neat to see a bit of deaf history!

March was packed with foggy mornings/days! This is another favorite type of weather to photograph in. One of my photographs caught the eyes of a local artist, Daniel Kenyon. He drew a watercolor painting of a photograph I took. The print [“New London Ferry on the Thames River”] is available in his Etsy shop here. I always love March for St. Patrick’s Day and everything Irish. I am very proud to be Irish! I enjoyed seeing the decor around downtown and on private residences. At the end of March, I had the honor to be in the Wall Street Journal, I talked about closed captioning in the movie theaters.

*My photograph of the ferry that inspired Daniel Kenyon to create a watercolor art of this photo.*

April was the big month for books! I started my bookstagram account (@boatmarked). It has been a journey, learning and adjusting. It’s still not up to where I want it to be, so hopefully 2023 will be the year! This month was when two Deaf authors released their books - ‘True Biz’ by Sara Novic and Nyle DiMarco’s memoir. I’m so excited about there being more exposure of deaf culture! I appreciated the libraries a lot this month, visiting Wheeler Library in North Stonington and Mystic-Noank Library. I love historical libraries! My parents came up to Connecticut for the week, so it was an amazing week of memories! Lastly this month, the sailboat was finally re-named, ‘Galway Gull’.

*So cool to see True Biz in bookstores!*

*Trying out a new-to-us brewery in Groton, CT.*

May got even warmer and there were a lot of walks around the area! I enjoy photographing the blooming flowers, especially one of my favorites - lilacs! Lilacs are pretty big in Rochester, NY where I spent 5 years (college), seeing them always reminds me of Rochester. The camping season also started this month, we went on first camping trip. I only went 15 minutes down the road! It was a fun weekend. I spent Memorial Day weekend visiting my family in Upstate New York (Elmira/Corning). It was great to see my grandparents, I hadn’t seen them since the holidays. It was a beautiful week weather wise so we spent a lot time outdoors, watched horse racing at the casino, spend time up at the lake, etc.

June brought us the first weekend of sailing on our newly named sailboat. I had some struggles with moving it to the summer location in Noank, which apparently could’ve been from the ‘curse’ of re-naming your boat without doing a ceremony! Lesson learned! I love the beginning of summer, when I visit Mystic Seaport more often. I also spent a lot time in Stonington where I finally went up to the top of the lighthouse (haven’t done that since 2014) and toured the James Merrill House when it was opened to the public (rarely is!). I went on the lighthouse cruise ferry out of New London, that was a part of the partnership with CT Visit. It was so fun to see all of the local lighthouses again. My mom retired after many years of working in the school (in NY), my parents came up to CT to celebrate. The week long celebration consisted a lot of eating out, sailing, all the summer activities!

*Passing by the Ledge Light on the lighthouse cruise. Had to show off the matching bag!*

July had some visitors from my hometown - my aunt, uncle and cousins came to Mystic. I loved being their tour guide, taking them to all of my favorite spots. It was a fun weekend! I hope that I get more visitors in 2023 (you know who you are!). I tried SUP (stand up paddling) for the first time in Old Lyme and I had a blast! A lot of July was spent sailing and photographing all the hydrangeas!!! and the beach days in Watch Hill, RI.

*My first SUP experience in Old Lyme, CT.*

August saw a lot of reading on the sailboat! I never did that in the past and I don’t know why I didn’t until this summer. It is relaxing to lay and read a good book on the water. I unexpectedly went back to my hometown in NY to meet my new fur niece before she grew up too much. A black lab female pup named Luna. She is adorable! It was great to get more time with family that I don’t see often. I finally made the trek to Greenwich to see the beautiful September 11th memorial. It is worth the stop.

September started out with the annual visit to B.F. Clyde Cider Mill! My parents also came up for the week of Labor Day. We went to a Red Sox game in Boston. It had been years since I’ve been to a MLB game in person, it was amazing to watch my favorite team! Fenway Park is also amazing… the oldest ballpark. Full of history! Mystic brought Norman Rockwell Museum to our area, with an exhibit at Mystic Art Museum. He is one of my most favorite artists so I really enjoyed going to see the exhibit. I hope to visit the actual museum in Massachusetts someday! I went on a camping trip to Bar Harbor, Maine. I went there in 2017 and fell in love. Acadia Park is just stunning and gorgeous. I wrote about Bar Harbor here and Acadia Park here.

*Norman Rockwell exhibit at Mystic Art Museum.*

October is always the busiest month due to all the activities. One of my most favorite month! I did plenty of leaf peeping and pumpkin patching. I went to New Hampshire for camping over the long weekend. I also popped over to Vermont, this was my first time to that state. Now I can say that I’ve been to all New England states! It also was fun to say that I went to all of them in one season (FALL) too! I had the most fun day exploring the western CT for a ‘Gilmore Girls’ themed day which I wrote about it here. October brought us some warm beach days and one final sail before the season ended.

*Gilmore Girls day - visited the gazebo in New Milford, CT.*

*Taking advantage of the remaining warm days at the beach!*

November started out by chasing the last chances of leaf peeping! I walked around Yale University/New Haven for the day. It has a gorgeous backdrop with the leaves! I enjoy Ivy League campuses and have a goal to visit all of them. November also had some final warm days for eating outdoors so I tend to go out a lot this month to eat. S&P Oyster in Mystic is a favorite with the waterfront view and really delicious seafood risotto! Thanksgiving this year was one of the best for the books because I hadn’t had a Thanksgiving with my family since 2019 at my house. My parents enjoyed the beginning of holiday season with the boat parade in Mystic and visiting the Stonington lobster trap tree for the first time.

And here we are, in the final month of December! I always admire the holiday decor during December so I was busy photographing them! I was excited to discover another Hanukkah book that I really love (there aren’t many of them out there)! It’s called ‘Eight Nights of Flirting’ by Hannah Reynolds. It takes place in Nantucket! I love New England based books. My other favorite Hanukkah book is called ‘The Matzah Ball’ by Jean Meltzer. I went to my hometown for the holidays, it was a wonderful time being around my family. It’s never enough time but I enjoy making those memories.

Overall the year of 2022 was really good for me. Of course, like any other year it had some ups and downs. I like to focus on the positivity and what I gained. It’s the first time that I created a big list for 2023, hoping to achieve some goals. I won’t push myself too hard but I’m looking forward to see what it will bring me. I also look forward to photographing more gorgeous New England content for you on Instagram!

My heart goes out to those who are struggling. I wish you a year of meaningful memories.

Wishing you all a healthy New Year!