Hitzeman Photography

Seeing and Sharing Beauty

Tree to Starburst

As Easter approaches, the symbolism of death-to-life (or life-to-death) transformation comes to mind. When I’m photographing living things in nature, I sometimes talk to the essence of it in my mind, befriending it, comforting it, wanting it to know I recognize and appreciate how its life (and death) on this planet has helped the lives of us fragile humans.

The tree “starburst” above has been a food source for countless forest insects. In its early life, it may have provided food for families of mushrooms.

At one point, its cousin may have been the “hero” in one of my other photos or blog posts. Like the one below…

The celebration of tree beauty fills me completely in October in Upper Michigan. It is the time of year when all the trees become giant colorful flowers.

Wow!

It’s a Tree Beauty Pageant!

An Invitation to Be an Enlightened Hero

(This is a re-post of my April 9, 2025 post on the MenLiving.org Blog)

I have long thought of myself as a hero.

After the sudden death of my father when I was 11 years old, my uncle told me I am now the Man of the House. Throughout the rest of my life, I did what I thought was the best thing to do, guided by the 12 points of the Boy Scout Law. Absent a consistent mentor, I tried on various shades of the role of “Hero.” I came to believe my being a hero was a matter of life and death for those I loved.

Sixty-three years later I found some great mentors in MenLiving and Path to Spirit-Warrior who have helped me grow and mature and more fully understand my hero impulse. I now realize there is a shadow side to the hero—arrogance, judging others, overconfidence, over-responsibility—trying to do everything for everybody at all times. Because if I can “rescue” you, my unconscious ego’s need to be valued and appreciated as your rescuer will be met.

When I retired in 2015, I thought the rest of my life would be great. No more reporting to bosses. No more two hour commutes. No more immature colleagues. At last, I was relieved of the burden of earning a living and finally had ample time to do whatever I wanted! But instead I became preoccupied with trying to understand why our citizenry chose to elect a TV reality show star as our 45th president. The shadow side of my Hero persona was verklempt!

My mental misery abated during the first two years of the 46th president’s term, when a majority of congress was on the same side. But alas the tide turned after the midterm elections as the 45th president’s influence spread.

Now (2025), the 45th president is back in office as the 47th president, and is talking about also becoming the 48th president, yet another of his many violations of the Constitution of the United States!

I’ve always admired Star Trek’s Captain James Tiberius Kirk as a role model for the Hero. But these days, my brain has become as jumpy as Dr. “Bones” McCoy, and I hear the Captain Kirk part of my brain saying, “Bones! Calm yourself!”

I was talking to my precious wife Marti about my feelings (because I can’t hide my feelings from her) of despair, anger, and sadness regarding the complete disregard for our Constitution by our Executive Branch, and the spinelessness of his cronies in our Legislative Branch. I would like to let go of these feelings, or at least not let them run my life. But how? Marti reminded me of the other side of the Shadow Hero—the Enlightened Hero.

So what is the Enlightened Hero? How does he think, speak, and act?

My study of Buddhist philosophy (as taught by Thich Nhat Hahn) holds some clues. I have learned about and tried to embody certain principles—Impermanence, Compassion, Non-Attachment. There are the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path (or in MenLiving-speak, Noble Suggestions). These are fundamental teachings in Buddhism:

The Four Noble Truths are:

  • One – Life is characterized by suffering and dissatisfaction.
  • Two – The cause of suffering is craving and attachment.
  • Three – There is a cessation of suffering, which is achievable.
  • Four – The path to the cessation of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path

The Noble Eightfold Path consists of:

  • Right Understanding: Understanding the Four Noble Truths.
  • Right Intent: Commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement.
  • Right Speech: Speaking truthfully and harmoniously.
  • Right Action: Behaving peacefully and harmoniously.
  • Right Livelihood: Earning a living in a way that does not harm others.
  • Right Effort: Cultivating positive states of mind.
  • Right Mindfulness: Developing awareness of the body, feelings, and thoughts.
  • Right Concentration: Practicing meditation to achieve a higher state of consciousness.

(You can play with these in your head and try to match up the MenLiving Five Suggestions, just for fun… It’s not dogma!)

My main quandary is struggling to understand what I am called to be, do, say and think in these times. Should I withdraw from this hero instinct? Should I just try to create a protection around myself, an island of sanity? A private sanctuary for myself? What do my five adult children, seven grandchildren and four great grands need from me?

I know that I cannot keep the feeling of despair inside me. To me, it is the WORST emotion. Of the Five Suggestions, my heart encourages me to keep on living consciously, curiously, emotionally, candidly, and intentionally. Of the Eightfold Path, my mind tells me to focus my efforts on Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. And of the 12 Points of the Scout Law, my heart relies on these points that are embedded in me since childhood. My hope is that by aspiring to practice and embody these suggestions, paths, and points, my life can model to my descendants how to stand for the good in life and in our country.

As our country heads towards fascism, I am reminded of the quote from Thomas Paine’s “The American Crisis”. It describes the beginnings of the American Revolution and the life of Paine himself.

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the services of their country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”

The “regular guys” back then were trying to fight off the British Empire, the King. What will we be, do, say and think in these times that try our souls?

Each of us must answer this for ourselves. As for this great grandfather, I will continue to wrestle with what these difficult times and what the future generations are calling me to be, do, say and think.

April Showers: The Connection Between Water and Emotions

This month (April 2025) feels like a cloudy-er / showery-er / rainy-er April than I have seen in years. Suddenly the grass has turned green. And green shoots of daffodils, tulips, and day lilies are poking out of the ground in familiar locations.

What makes us all one is water. The average percentage of water in the human body is 60%, but it varies in different parts of the body. See the 1-minute video below.

Water is also the symbol of emotions. Our lives are full of emotions, and the tears flow more often and easily in my life as I open to life. Tears of sorrow and sadness. Tears of awe from seeing good people doing the right, kind things. Tears of joy seeing my tiny dog gazing at my face. And now in April, witnessing the tears of the clouds and sky. And our Earth providing us with ocean waves, waterfalls, lakes, river rapids, and other water phenomena.

So how about some pictures, Harry!? Here you go! 🙂 (click image to ENLARGE)

Creativity and Changing Perspective

Two months after I retired, I took a trip with a couple of friends to photograph Colorado. One of the iconic photo-ops in that state is the Maroon Bells Mountain peaks at sunrise that you see above. The sunrise lighting up the top of the mountain is the prize at this location. Many photographers compete for space along the lake shore to get the “best” perspective of this event.

The next photo below gives you some idea of the crowd size, even though I took this pic 30 minutes after the one above, when the crowd was even thicker.

Crowd Thirty Minutes After Best Shot

I do like the so-called sunrise shot, but that scene also makes me feel separate from what I’m looking at. The mountains and lake looked huge, vast, and by comparison I felt so small and distant from it. I walked around the lakes edge until I found a different perspective. I like to capture more of the ground in front of me. It makes me feel more like I was there, and that I could walk into the photograph, the Aspen Stepping Stones.

Maroon Bells, near Snowmass, Colorado

I want to acknowledge my friend, Steve Ornberg—a master at photography trip planning, and an excellent landscape photographer. Steve has since gone on to concentrate on astro-photography and bird photography.

Steve Ornberg

A Bridge Not Too Far

“Through the captured imagery of light, photography allows us to hold fast to one fleeting, ever so precious, moment in time.

~ Howard Simmons. Photographer

Photographing beautiful places in nature in beautiful light has been a passion of mine all my life. These photographs capture a precious moment in time, and my brain, my emotions, also somehow capture moments in time that I did not intend to keep. They may have been hurtful. I may have misjudged people. I may have broken a meaningful relationship. And those memories are still in my mind. They are not precious.

Today, as I think back on the people I may have hurt unjustly, I also wonder whether I can repair that now. What does it mean to be a lifelong friend if I am kicking people to the curb, as if they were nothing to me then. How can I today, years later, harness the power of love—Oneness—in my heart and head?

Perhaps I can look back at those moments with different lenses or filters on my eyes? Perhaps I can change the Lighting of memories that are captured in my head and heart? Perhaps I can edit or post-process or transform the image I have of them, and forgive them, forgive myself?

Perhaps I can recreate the love between us that we used to have.

A river can stop flowing or be rerouted if we allow the stones to accumulate in it instead of working to move them out of the way.  The following quote helps me to remember this, to speak about a conflict from a perspective of authenticity and compassion, even though I want to avoid conflict. 

I felt angry toward my friend.

I told my wrath. My wrath did end.

I felt angry toward my foe. 

I told him not. My wrath did grow.

~ William Blake

Is my former friend really a foe, or did my silence make him so?

Today’s set of photos are about bridges. Bridges as a metaphor of how I can travel on them or construct them in my heart and head, to call that former friend I have left behind. 

I believe making a phone call is not a bridge too far.

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