My New Kentucky Home
A grand adventure continues…
Scroll down to view photos in this collection.
After selling my Knoxville TN home and camping for several weeks, I relocated to Berea KY over Labor Day weekend 2025.
Berea is a small, friendly town that offers BIG adventures! For a nature lover, I could hardly have chosen a better place to live.
On a clear night, I can see a gazillion stars from my property.
Glorious sunrise and sunset views occur almost daily.
Berea College owns thousands of acres of forest and welcomes visitors to hike its maintained trails to vistas like East Pinnacle, Eagle’s Nest, and Indian Fort Lookout.
My grandchildren enjoy horses, tractors, books, parks, and many more delights when they visit me in Berea.
Below are some favorite images I captured since moving to my new Kentucky home. I hope you enjoy these snippets of life in Berea Kentucky.
Words to live by: Oh, the sun shines bright on my new Kentucky home...
SBS001 September 5 2025
I beheld this glorious sunrise a week after I moved into my new home in Berea Kentucky.
SBS002 September 5 2025
A closer look at the red orange rising sun.
SBS003 September 8 2025
The first full moon I experienced after moving to Windswept Acre in Berea.
Its light so brightly shined into my room that I awoke around one o’clock to what seemed like daylight. I left home and walked a half mile beside Silver Creek to fully appreciate the Harvest Moon.
SBS004 September 17 2025
Nine nights later, in the wee morning hours of September 17.
SBS007 September 14 2025
My first visit to Owsley Fork Reservoir.
I arrived early on my son’s 39th birthday and enjoyed its peaceful majesty in perfect solitude.
Perhaps my next visit to Berea’s recreation lake will be with Get Outside Kentucky kayakers and paddleboarders.
SBS008 September 19 2025
Berea hosts a three-day festival each September called The Spoonbread Festival.
Bereans and visitors celebrate harvest season with food, local art and crafts, live music, carnival rides, a spoonbread eating contest and, my personal favorite, the Balloon Glow.
I captured this image just as I arrived at the fairgrounds across from Memorial Park, where dozens of vendors offered a plethora of tantalizing food and merchandise.
SBS009 September 19 2025
An after-dark view of balloons that amazed Bereans and guests during the 2025 Balloon Glow.
SBS012 October 6 2025
The eastern sky as seen from Windswept Acre just before sunrise on October 6.
SBS013 October 18 2025
A major reason I chose Berea as my new Kentucky home: There are miles and miles of hiking trails built and maintained by Berea College Forestry.
I hiked about three days per week during my first summer and fall in Berea. Many hiking days I enjoyed with Kentucky and East Tennessee friends.
John and I enjoyed an afternoon hike to Indian Fort Lookout and East Pinnacle, where we witnessed this majestic sunset.
SBS014 October 18 2025
A Berea scene from East Pinnacle just before 7pm on October 18.
SBS015 November 1 2025
By early November, forests surrounding Berea KY exploded with fall colors.
I reveled in this view from Indian Fort Lookout.
SBS016 November 1 2025
I captured this view from an easy-walking trail that connects East Pinnacle to West Pinnacle.
SBS017 November 1 2025
Another example of fall colors along hiking trails in Berea College Forest.
SBS019 November 2 2025
This is a view of Welch Mountain taken from Boones Trace, an easy-walking path beside Brushy Fork in a section of Berea College Forest close to the inviting college campus.
SBS018 November 2 2025
Another early-Autumn view of Welch Mountain taken from Boones Trace in Berea KY.
Welch Mountain tops out around 1300 feet, so hiking in the Brushy Fork area is easy to moderate.
Other mountains in the Knobs Region of Kentucky reach elevations as high as 1800 feet. They are similar in height to the Cumberland Plateau area of Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky that I love to explore.
While not as tall as the Smoky Mountains, Kentucky Knobs are just as wonderful. And they present many technically challenging sections, plenty to keep this over-the-hill hiker fit and fascinated.
SBS021 November 3 2025
Barred Owls emerge to hunt after dark, right?
I captured this image around 4:30pm while hiking in the Brushy Fork area of Berea KY.
If the owl was searching for food, I sure couldn’t tell it. It seemed to be showing off for a handful of hikers who stopped to observe its antics.
The majestic bird remained within range for more than twenty minutes, moving gracefully between trees and perching on limbs to pose for photos.
What a hoo-hoo-hoo hoot!
SBS022 November 4 2025
Berea College opened a large, forested area to hiking in summer 2025.
It’s called Pinnacle Knob Trails, and its trails all begin across Hwy 21 from the Forest Outreach Center.
This vibrant image, and many like it, captivated me as I hiked about seven miles on Pinnacle Knob in early November.
SBS024 November 4 2025
Another Berea scene from the Pinnacle Knob Trails area.
SBS026 November 3 2025
When you hike Berea’s Pinnacle Knob Trails, be sure to walk the black-blazed side trail to catch a bird’s eye view of B Lake.
SBS025 November 4 2025
Here’s a closer look at B Lake in the Pinnacle Knob forest.
Four rain-filled reservoirs are situated within Berea College’s land holdings.
B Lake
Cowbell Lake
Kale Lake
Owsley Fork Reservoir
From these reservoirs, three million gallons of water per day are processed in Berea’s water plant, then transported to Berea City Water Tower to provide clean water to Bereans and others in Madison County.
More than one billion gallons of clean water are produced annually, thanks to the foresight of Berea College leaders and the generosity of benefactors in the early 1900s.
SBS005 November 5 2025
I caught November’s Beaver Moon as it rose just before 6pm.
SBS006 November 5 2025
Another view of Beaver Moon as it rose above a nineteen-acre farm that surrounds my new Kentucky home, Windswept Acre.
SBS027 November 29 2025
This is typical of many glorious sunrises I have witnessed while living at Windswept Acre.
SBS028 November 29 2025
As I panned right to see more of the eastern sky, I noticed a neighbor had erected this lighted cross.
It was surely a symbol of their faith.
SBS029 November 29 2025
A closer view of my neighbor’s quiet yet potent display.
It became a constant reminder of my faith during Advent.
SBS055 December 2 2025
By early December, holiday displays appeared throughout Berea, including this inflatable Nativity scene in Memorial Park.
Notice that Baby Jesus and the figures surrounding him were dusted with snow on that particular evening.
SBS030 December 3 2025
The next day, our dusting of snow had melted away in the valley surrounding my home.
A remnant of snow remained atop Indian Fort Mountain. Even more prominent was ice that formed overnight; it clung to barren limbs and created a winter wonderland for hikers who walked among the trees.
SBS032 December 3 2025
Emagene hiked with me that idyllic December day. This was our view from Indian Fort Lookout.
If you know where to look, you can barely see Windswept Acre at right in this photograph.
SBS031 December 3 2025
A closer view of West Pinnacle from Indian Fort Lookout in Berea KY.
SBS033 December 7 2025
A uniquely beautiful Berea sunrise.
SBS034 December 10 2025
In Berea and elsewhere, each morning we live is uniquely beautiful.
We need only to embrace each precious, God-given opportunity.
SBS035 December 11 2025
Legacy Wall commemorates Berea College alumni who gave generously to support the extraordinary mission of their alma mater.
The plaque quotes John G. Fee, a minister and abolitionist who founded Berea, developed two of the town’s churches, and started Berea College circa 1855.
“Berea College then grew out of a manifest want, and is for the maintenance and development of a great truth of the gospel, impartial love.”
SBS037 December 12 2025
My first significant snowfall event while living in Berea accumulated four inches upon and around Windswept Acre.
Blowing snow visible through my picture window inspired me to play holiday albums while I finished decorating my Christmas tree.
SBS038 December 12 2025
I walked around Old Town Berea among falling flakes, and photographed holiday decorations made even more excellent by wet snow.
SBS039 December 12 2025
Can you find my reflection in the ornaments?
SBS040 December 12 2025
Minus a glove, this must be one cold hand! Brrrrrrr…
SBS041 December 12 2025
There’s a bicycle under these snow-covered evergreen boughs.
SBS042 December 12 2025
Likewise, in nearby Memorial Park, holiday decorations were enhanced by wet snow.
SBS043 December 12 2025
You’re a mean one, Mister Grinch.
Not!
SBS044 December 12 2025
Rudolph’s red nose was made for a white Christmas.
SBS045 December 12 2025
I bet Bumble made you smile too.
SBS047 December 12 2025
Images like this made me glad to celebrate my first Christmas in Berea.
SBS046 December 12 2025
Several days later, my son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren arrived to celebrate the holidays with me.
Indeed, it was a Merry Christmas!
SBS049 December 13 2025
This farm is within a few acres of The Pinnacles in Berea KY.
I was attracted to this view while walking John B. Stephenson Trail toward Indian Fort Mountain.
SBS050 December 13 2025
This farm is also very near The Pinnacles in Berea KY.
This trio of Aubrac cattle were attracted to me while I aimed my Galaxy S24 camera in their direction.
SBS052 December 13 2025
Later the same afternoon, just prior to six o’clock, God blessed Bereans with this spectacular sunset. Amazing!
SBS054 December 13 2025
From my front porch I looked past my Black Tupelo at this mesmerizing western sky.
SBS057 January 24 2026
My second visit to Owsley Fork Reservoir.
Notice the band of rocky cliffs toward the top of Tater Knob, which exemplifies the magnificent beauty of our Kentucky Knobs region.
Also note the similarities between this image and one like it dated September 14 (sixth photo from top in this collection.)
SBS058 January 24 2026
Engineers designed and heavy equipment constructed this earthen dam to create Owsley Fork Reservoir.
Located in Berea’s Red Creek watershed area, Owsley Fork Dam was begun in 1974 and was dedicated May 6 1976.
SBS059A January 24 2026
Will someone please explain why this picturesque lighthouse stands beside Owsley Fork Reservoir?
Since only non-motorized boats are allowed on the lake, I presume there has never been a time since 1976 that a boat ran aground or sank in the shallow lake waters. Right?
SBS056 January 24 2026
This is perhaps my favorite image from my second visit to Owsley Fork Reservoir.
I like it so much I will also include it in my PhotoArt collection.
SBS
SBS060 January 28 2026
Needless to say, I love Berea Kentucky.
As do tens of thousands of visitors who visit Berea each year.