Book about ‘Bills! Bills! Bills!’ sounds kind of interesting

Periodically, I get releases from folks promoting a new service, or a new product or a new book. Most of them I just look at for about 10 seconds then move onto the next release or e-mail.

Mark White is Editor of The News Journal.

I got one a few days ago about a book that caught my attention, entitled, “Bills! Bills! Bills!” by J.I. Miller.

It is a collection of lighthearted essays and observations about people, places, and things named William or Bill.

“There are more than four million boys and men in the United States named William or Bill, and a new book introduces a lot of them. There are also 27 Williamsburgs in the world. All but one of those are in the United States.  Every one of them has a story,” Miller wrote in the release.

“William the Conqueror, William Tell, William Shakespeare, four American presidents, Willie Nelson, Buffalo Bill – they are all in there, along with most of the Williamsburgs in America.”

I contacted the author back to see if Williamsburg, Kentucky, is mentioned in the book, and there is a relatively brief bit about it talking about the beautiful mountains, the Cumberland River and the moonbow at Cumberland Falls.

Miller noted that he saw the moonbow at Cumberland Falls a long, long time ago when he was in his early teens and still “find it magical.”

Miller, who is a retired biology professor, wrote an earlier book, “The Book of Jims.”

If you know someone named William or Bill or Billy, who is impossible to shop for, then “Bills! Bills! Bills!” might make a good birthday present. It is available in hardcover, softcover, and electronic versions from bookstores or a preferred online retailers.

Now for a few other random notes before I conclude this column, which was written at my dining room table Monday morning with help from my cat, Lucy, or at least she tried to help walking across the keyboard once or twice…LOL.

• Given the number of snow days that we have had recently, it seems appropriate to point out that Jan. 29 is National Puzzle Day. A snow day like the one Sunday or the other snow days that we have had recently would be a good time to work a puzzle.

I recently bought one of the Depot Street line of puzzles called “Country Story at Night.” It is a puzzle based on a photograph from local photographer Jim Begley.

My wife and I started working it recently. (Put the cats out first naturally…LOL.)

The 1,000 piece puzzle is pretty fun and not too difficult.

We also bought a “Puzzle Stow and Go!” that lets you put up your puzzle and go back to it at a later.

At any rate the Depot Street puzzles are pretty neat, and can be ordered off the Mchezo website. Mchezo is located in the old American Greeting Card plant building.

Mchezo features a few other puzzles based on Jim Begley pictures, and also has at least one puzzle based on a painting of Abraham Lincoln by another local artist Josh “Spanky” Bunch.

In other words, if you want to buy a puzzle to help pass the snowy, winter days, then you might as well buy one from a group with local ties.

• I had the opportunity to visit Whitley County High School recently where vo-ag students were harvesting their first hydroponically grown crop of lettuce, which I have to say was pretty impressive.

For those who don’t know (like me until recently), the hydroponic system grows the vegetables in water rather than dirt. There is an automated system that tests the nutrients and makes adjustments as needed.

These heads of lettuce were grown in horizontal beds, but the WCHS students are also experimenting in growing them vertically as this would take up less space. Up next is another hydroponics system for the students, which will grow tomatoes. Impressive.