Heather Henry and her husband, Ken, were the on-site caretakers at the Knappton Cove (Washington) Heritage Center lazaretto (pesthouse) last year, and she wrote about the experience for the center’s annual newsletter.

“… I found myself marveling at how different sunrises and sunsets could look from day to day, season to season,” she recalled. “The tidal action became meditative, and led me to the Nautide app, that helped me understand what was going on. Then, I downloaded the Merlin app from Cornell University and was amazed to identify over 30 birds. I discovered plants that I had never seen in peak bloom before.”

While immersing herself in, and photographing, nature, she watched the river’s moods, saw a sturgeon moon, the Astoria lights and the “changing landscape of driftwood,” wore boots to wade out to bird watch, and listened to Joanne Rideout’s “Ship Report.”

Many have wondered if the pesthouse is haunted. “Some paranormal investigators tested the site for activity a few years back,” she wrote. “A few benign orbs presented themselves, and one who requested some coffee — perhaps …

“But there was one night this year when I woke to what sounded like a party going on. In my drowsiness, I just wanted them to quiet down so I could get back to sleep.

“Upon awaking in the morning, I thought, ‘What neighbors? Where could those noises have come from? It wasn’t a stormy night.’ I vowed to be more cognizant next time, so I could listen in to the conversation. Alas, it was a one-time occurrence.”

“They say ‘environment changes the organism,’” she noted. “Indeed. And I am changed.” (Screenshot: Heather Henry)