Word: holdfast
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...porpoises. Kelp, giant forests of seaweed by which Darwin was enthralled, shows only at the top. These plants, which can grow at a rate of 20 in. a day, reach down 100 ft. to granite reefs. The kelp is tethered by stipes-stems, structures that connect the base, or holdfast, to the leaflike blades. Gas-filled floats at the base of the blades keep the fronds standing upright...
...remember lying in bed that day, worrying howI would get through Harvard. Now, two years later,I know that getting though is seldom the realchallenge because it's virtually guaranteed thatyou will. In the meantime, you'll have to holdfast to whatever it is you most value aboutyourself because Harvard will probably give it agood shaking up. Which, in retrospect, is notwithout benefit. After that incident with myEnglish professor, I became hell-bent on improvingmy writing. I needed, more than anything, tojustify the writer I believed I was, and the one Ihoped to become. And so, with...
...alarmed the West Germans, who got the impression that NATO's strategic thinking is centered on a defense at the Rhine (which would mean giving up most of West Germany, including the Ruhr). But last week's exercise should have reassured the Germans. The basic idea of Holdfast is that a relatively small Western force-with good weapons and air support, and with the right tactics-could stop a massive Russian drive east of the Rhine. How? Not by an old-fashioned linear defense based on rivers, mountains, etc. (which would require more divisions than NATO is likely...
...Holdfast's strategists had developed their plan after studying German tactics in the long retreat from Stalingrad (in which the Germans first used the word "hedgehog"), Britain's experiences with Rommel in Africa, and NATO Commander Matt Ridgway's own mobile defenses against enemy masses in Korea. The maneuvers were commanded by General Sir John Harding, a veteran of Britain's desert battles in World War II and a hedgehog pioneer. Neither General Harding nor anyone else suggested that NATO's present divisions (hopefully estimated at 47 by year's end) could actually stop...
...Russians were unmistakably interested in both Mainbrace and Holdfast. A group of very quiet Soviet military observers appeared at a Dutch command post and asked to be shown around. On instructions from Sir John Harding, the Dutch commander told his visitors that if they did not withdraw at once they would be tossed out. They withdrew...