10 Days In December

"I want to get married, go out west, build a log cabin, raise a bunch of kids, volunteer in my community, and then write a book about it." In 1978, during a golden age of middle-class prosperity, newly wed Kevin and Eleanor, like other young people at the time, felt the irresistible pull of the Back-to-the-Land movement and left behind everything they knew and loved to live far from the city and off the grid. As they searched western Canada for a place to settle, abandoned homesteads warned that their dream would be hard won. 10 Days in December journals Kevin and Eleanor's adventures living for the first ten days in their wilderness cabin facing the demands of winter, where harsh reality and self-denial test their love and commitment. Along the way practical Kevin and idealistic Eleanor will learn if they have what it takes to live in the mountains and with each other. Eleanor shares her true 'coming-of-age' story exploring what resources from her sheltered childhood could help her endure the isolation, cold and darkness of this northern river valley.

In 11 Days In December, master historian and biographer Stanley Weintraub tells the remarkable story of the Battle of the Bulge as it has never been told before, from frozen foxholes to barn shelters to boxcars packed with wretched prisoners of war. In late December 1944, as the Battle of the Bulge neared its climax, a German loudspeaker challenge was blared across GI lines in the Ardennes: "How would you like to die for Christmas?" In the inhospitable forest straddling Belgium, France, and Luxembourg, only the dense, snow-laden evergreens recalled the season. Most troops hardly knew the calendar day they were trying to live through, or that it was Hitler's last, desperate effort to alter the war's outcome. Yet the final Christmas season of World War II matched desperation with inspiration. When he was offered an ultimatum to surrender the besieged Belgian town of Bastogne, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe defied the Germans with the memorable one-word response, "Nuts!" And as General Patton prayed for clear skies to allow vital airborne reinforcements to reach his trapped men, he stood in a medieval chapel in Luxembourg and spoke to God as if to a commanding general: "Sir, whose side are you on?" His prayer was answered. The skies cleared, the tide of battle turned, and Allied victory in World War II was assured. Christmas 1944 proved to be one of the most fateful days in world history. Many men did extraordinary things, and extraordinary things happened to ordinary men. "A clear cold Christmas," Patton told his diary, "lovely weather for killing Germans, which seems a bit queer, seeing whose birthday it is." Peace on earth and good will toward men would have to wait. 11 Days in December is unforgettable.

Published with vol. 21-25: Transactions of the Wisconsin State Horticultural Society, vol. 13-17, and Annual report of the Wisconsin Dairymen's Association, no. 11-15; with vol. 22-25: Annual report of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Wisconsin, no. 1-4.