Please Help A Child Jump for Joy This Holiday Season

This image was created on 5 December 2024 — hey, that is today! — down by the lake at Indian Lake Estates, FL. I used the handheld peashooter rig, the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 242mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 3200: 1/1250 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:21:14am just as the sun came over the distant pines to the east. Wide/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Sandhill Crane courtship dance jump

What’s Up?

Despite perfect conditions this morning, Thursday 5 December, 2024, Bob Eastman and I did not have a lot of good chances but for the pair of cranes that danced for us very early on. As the birds are silly tame, I went with the peashooter rig to gain 1 1/3 stops of light at f/4 as compared to the 200-600mm G lens at f/6.3. When this one came up in Photo Mechanic, I wanted to jump for joy, just as I did when opening a multitude of presents during the holidays when I was a little boy growing up in Brooklyn. I was thrilled with the sharpness at only 1/1250 sec. and love the wide, bird-scape look of today’s featured image.

My Mom, Hazel Louise Morris, was Protestant when she married my Dad, PFC Robert Edward Morris, a non-practicing Jew. When I was about nine, my Mom took some classes and converted to Judaism. For many years before that, the holidays were a bonanza for the Morris children, my younger sister by two years, Ilene Carol Morris, my much younger sister, the late Arna Lee Morris, and me, Arthur Edward.

Why a bonanza? We always had a Christmas tree and celebrated Hanukkah as well. That meant eight nights of presents in addition to the thrill of opening more gifts on Christmas morning. How good can it get?

There are lots of children in and around San Diego, one of my favorite cities in the world — Hazel and Bob are buried there, who do not receive a single holiday gift. Martin Wood, president and CEO of Delkin Devices who make the flash cards that I have used and depended on of the past quarter century, first became involved with Toys for Tots in 2004. The involvement began when the airport manager at Ramona Airport, Bo Donovan, asked Martin to participate in the annual program. The first year, Delkin Devices and Donovan raised $1,500 for Toys for Tots. Toys for Tots is a program run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve that collects (and purchases, with donated funds), new, unwrapped toys during the fall and winter to distribute to children in need as Christmas gifts. Major Bill Hendricks of the Marine Corps Reserve founded the program in 1947 in Los Angeles, California.

Martin Wood with Delkin HR Director Paige Rinehart and a local TV anchor with Delkin Devices’ 2023 donation check for $20,000!

Please Help/Toys For Tots

Martin and Delkin need your help to reach their goal this year. As above, he has always put his money where his heart is, with the needy children of San Diego. Please stop what you are doing and help by clicking on the convenient Donate Button below and making a PayPal donation. Nobody but you will know that you have donated, but I can guarantee that you will be enveloped by a warm glow if you do.

Donate

Martin Wood with Delkin CFO Frank Provost, two San Diego Marines, and last year’s huge Toys For Tots check for $147,520!

An e-Mail From Delkin Devices President and CEO

Update on 19th annual Toys for Tots Three Days Out!

Hello Generous friends, Things have improved, but we are not there yet!

So far, we have collected $32,050 from all our generous sponsors, and folks giving to help the less fortunate kids in Southern California. We are technically $118,200 short of our goal for the event. Toys like everything else have gone way up in price, making this even more important.
Last year a box of toys cost around $325. This year it is closer to $500!

But do not despair, this is not far off from where we were three days before the collection last year.

We have hundreds of boxes of toys coming in. These are counted at around $500 each. Last year we ended up around 298 boxes, so those could be enough to put us over the goal.

We have Bikes and eBikes, they are counted at $75 for small, $125 for large, and $250 for eBikes. And we always collect a few checks and cash at the event, last year just over $11k. The day of the event sometimes adds 20+ boxes of toys from the generous folks walking into and out of Wal-Mart. Remember, it helps poor kids, it is with the Marines, whom you can trust, it is non-denominational, and it is tax deductible!

Paige and I along with Jorge Barajas (Delkin Quality Engineer) will be on TV, both 7/39 and Telemundo tomorrow at 6:15AM, between news programs in the AM to promote the event. Our ads in the papers are paying off, we get a box or two a week of toys from folks dropping off at the building. An article about this, our 19th year, was in the Poway Chieftain, which brought on more donations.

Big Box Storage, a sponsor has their bus stop ads all over town, and will probably bring a box to the event. Wake World has their annual auction, please pop over and buy some donated Delkin products along with many others that all goes to the Tots. This year a local business has a boat on auction! Check it out here.

Please donate any amount you can, even $5 goes to the Marines as a worthy donation to buy a toy for a kid who might get nothing!

Date Saturday, December 7th, 2024
Time 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM (we will be there earlier and later)
Location Poway Wal-Mart — 13425 Community Rd 9off Poway Rd) Parking Lot

Donations

See the Military Trucks and Jeeps (WWII) at the office and the event. Marines will be there, a giant American Flag, and a Marine Corp Crane. Plus, a free lunch with Taco Love, Holiday Music, happy, friendly people, etc. Please invite your neighbors, friends, Family, and all those you know to help us this year. Send me your ideas and advice to continue growing this event. 100% of every penny and Barbie doll goes to the kids through the US Marines.

Thanks very much.

Martin

The 2024 BIRDS AS ART Toys For Tots check.

Please Give What You Can Comfortably Afford

A donation of as little as $5.00 can put smile on the face of a child this holiday season. Please Donate whatever you can afford. Every little bit helps but you need to act fast.

Thanks with love, artie

Hanukkah

Hanukkah (also spelled “Chanukah”), is an eight-day winter “festival of lights,” which begins each year on the 25th day of the Jewish calendar month of Kislev. Because the Hebrew calendar is based on the lunar cycle, the dates of Jewish holidays according to the Gregorian calendar change yearly. For this reason, the beginning of Hanukkah can range from late November to late December.

In short, Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after a group of Jewish warriors defeated the occupying Greek armies. The festival celebrates the triumph of light over darkness and spirituality over materiality.

This festival commemorates events in Judea more than 2,000 years ago when the Syrian king Antiochus ordered the Jews to abandon the Torah and publicly worship the Greek gods. This act provoked a rebellion led by Judas Maccabeus, climaxed by the retaking of the Temple in Jerusalem, which the Syrians had desecrated. The army of Jews won despite their small numbers. In an eight-day celebration, the “Maccabees” (as the rebels came to be known), cleansed and rededicated the Temple.

According to the Talmud, there was only enough consecrated oil to re-light the candelabra for one day, yet, miraculously, it remained lit for eight days until a new supply of pure oil (likely olive oil), was made.

Adapted from the article by Catherine Boeckmann on the ALMANAC website here.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.