John Schneider

John Schneider wrote a daily general-interest column for the Lansing (MI) State Journal for 24 years. His non-fiction book, “Waiting for Home: the Richard Prangley Story,” documents the life of a man wrongly institutionalized for 15 years. His play, “Voice Mail,” takes place in a news room, naturally. He and his wife, Sharon, live on 12 acres just beyond suburbia. They have four grown children – one in heaven and three on earth — and three grandsons.

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Being there

Even a good camera is an inadequate instrument for capturing the drama and grandeur of National Park landscapes.

But we can't resist trying, at least not until we accept the fact that we're not there to document it; that's already been done thousands of times by people with more talent and superior equipment.

At some point, we put our cameras away and simply appreciate the beauty of what we're seeing.

My efforts from our trip Canyonlands National Park Saturday include (from top, to bottom): the Green River; random rock formations; two travelers at Mesa Arch.

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The sincerest form of flattery ...?

You may have noticed that Lord Huron's front Bub is rocking a new vibe. Out with the Jesus look; in with the Ted Lasso look.

From the stage at Fiddler's Green in Denver Thursday night, he joked about how unnerving it was to look down at the front row and see fans sporting mustaches that somehow didn't look quite real.

He said it was caused him to lose his concentration and called the fake mustache-wearers "trouble-makers," but said it in a way that made it obvious he meant it as a term of endearment.

He pointed out, however, that it's a challenge to laugh and sing simultaneously.

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Beyond generous

As I mentioned a few blogs ago, an important part of the annual pilgrimage to the Rocks Amphitheater is a massive gift-exchange among the World Enders - Lord Huron fans.

As you can see in this photo of some of things I brought home from Wednesday's show, the exercise brings out both the creativity and generosity of the people in the group.

Notice the item in the middle. At some point during the show a woman handed me a packet containing two bracelets. I thanked her and put the packet in my pocket, never noticing, in the dim light, that the beadwork spelled out "JESSICA" and included little sunflowers.

It's an obvious reference to our dearly departed daughter, who drowned at age 25. This means, of course, that the woman who gave me the bracelets made them specifically for Sharon and me and took the trouble to seek me out at the show.

We didn't notice until Thursday morning, at which point I realized that my casual thank-you at the show doesn't begin to cover how touched we are by such a kind and thoughtful gesture.

Note to the World Enders: I regret to say that I don't remember the woman's name. It may be Darcy. I'm hoping you can help me identify her so I can thank her properly.

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Family reunion

I can't say I met every single one of these people Wednesday night, but I did meet a bunch of them. Some of the faces were new; many were familiar from previous Lord Huron shows.

Every year Lord Huron fan club members - the World Enders - pose for a group portrait at their mecca - the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado.

In 2019, the Red Rocks group numbered less than 50. As you can see, it's grown a little.

The photo always reminds me of a family-reunion because, in a sense, that's what it is

(Photo courtesy of Thistle & Pine Photography)

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"Long Lost" for sure

After browsing the possibilities, I’m considering adding “Long Lost,” to my “ink,” as the hipsters call it, continuing the tradition - and the theme - of my Red Rocks tattoos.

The first one was “Not Dead Yet”; then, “Fool for Love”; then “The World Ender” (“W” and “E”, separated by a lightning bolt).

Notice that these are all Lord Huron song titles, making “Long Lost” the clear choice for Red Rocks 2026.

By the way, these were all designed and drawn by my son-in-law, Tony Wilson.

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Westbound

The plan: Today we’ll catch a 12:42 p.m. flight - Detroit to Denver - for Lord Huron’s Wednesday show at Red Rocks in Morrison, followed, on Thursday night, by the band’s Fiddler’s Green show in Denver.

Assuming we make it past “Blucifer,” that menacing blue horse with the glowing eyes that guards the airport entrance, we’ll claim our rental car and begin a week or so of bumming around Out West.

On Friday morning we’ll light out for Moab, Utah to have a look at Arches and Canyonlands National Parks (Two more opportunities to flash my lifetime senior-citizen pass, which I bought for $10 about 10 years ago. Now they cost $80, which is still a bargain).

That's the official itinerary; no doubt there will be a surprise or two along the trail.

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How to describe it ...

Yet another label for Lord Huron’s music: “Cinematic, vaguely Southwestern-flavored folk-rock …”

That one - not entirely off the mark, I must say - comes from a writer for the Bulletin in Bend, Oregon, where the Bubs played the Hayden Homes Amphitheater a few nights ago as part of their 2026 summer tour.

With another 30-plus shows coming up, who knows how many new labels may emerge …?

The Bulletin writer did some research and seemed to surprise himself.

“Lord Huron,” he wrote, “has just over 24 million monthly listeners on Spotify. That’s a couple million more than Bruce Springsteen, nearly 10 million more than John Mayer and more than twice as many as Phoebe Bridgers…”

The Bubs play Cheyenne, Wyoming Tuesday night; then, the sacred ground of Red Rocks on Wednesday.

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No. 51

The big blow-out was last year, in honor of the big round number.

We all gathered - all 11 members of our nuclear family - at a chalet on Shadow Mountain Lake, in Grand Lake, Colorado. The kids arranged the whole thing. It was fabulous.

This year? It's just Sharon and me. At home. We talked about maybe going out to dinner. We decided instead to just grill some chicken and reminisce over a cocktail, which, to tell the truth, is more typical of a 51-year of marriage than the 50-year bash.

Not that I'm complaining. The excitement starts next week, when we light out on a trip Out West - to Red Rocks and points beyond.

(The photo, taken 51 years ago today, shows us jumping off a cliff. Little did we know how softly we would land. As for my outfit, all I can say is that that's what grooms wore in those days.)

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Seven swans a-swimming

Every now and then a photo will write its own caption.

The second I glanced our our window at swans on Lake Huon and counted seven of them ... swimming ... well, who could resist?

These black-beaked beauties are trumpeter swans and, unlike their orange-beaked mute swan - those invasive bullies of the swan world - trumpeters are native to Michigan.

It may interest you to know that the term for a group of swans depends on what they're doing. On land, a "bevy': in flight, a "wedge," a "flock," or a "flight"; on the water, a "flotilla," or an "armada." Newborns are "cygnets," no matter what they're doing.

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Mumbo jumbo

I’m reluctant to call it a word salad because salads are generally healthy and the meaningless excretion that emerged a few days ago from the mouth of a National Science Foundation official is anything but healthy.

Trump, no friend to scientific research, recently announced the Regime was scrapping a network of deep-sea instruments that collect data on currents, climate and marine ecosystems - information vital to monitoring the earth’s precarious health.

It’s just another volley in the Administration’s overall assault on science.

When asked about the cut, the NSF official spewed this jumble of nonsense:

“(It) …aligns with N.S.F.’s wider strategy to have a nimbler approach to prioritizing support for evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies as well as a deliberate approach to smart life cycle management within its portfolio of research infrastructure.”

If you can figure out what that means, let me know.

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Gallows humor

Sharon sometimes seems resigned to the proposition that I'll meet my ultimate fate out on the lake - pulled into Huron, perhaps, by a big fish that I can't bear to give up on". (I say there are worst ways to go).

But I know she's only engaging in a little gallows humor.

As I was on my way out one recent morning, she went through her check list of doom: "Let's see ....," she said. "Old boat, old back-up motor, old guy ... big lake ... what could go wrong ...?"

I think it's just her way of saying, "Be careful out there."

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Outward bound

After a 7-month-long nap, the John B didn’t exactly spring into action. She required a shot of starting fluid, with a fresh-gas chaser.

But, as I mentioned in a previous blog, she turns 40 this year, which is at least 77 in human years. A little creakiness is understandable. I can identify,

On Tuesday, after five days of beautiful, but blustery, conditions on the big lake, Huron went docile, allowing the John B. and me our annual shakedown cruise.

We worked out a few bugs - in both of us - and are ready and eager for whatever the summer brings.

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Live from the Artists Den | Lord Huron | Season 14 | Episode 1

Psychedelic-rock powerhouse Lord Huron performs at San Gabriel Mission Playhouse in San Gabriel, CA.

'Artists Den' now streaming

A “psychedelic-rock powerhouse" ...?

I’m not sure that description fits, but I’ll give the writer points for originality.

Last November LH performed songs from the band’s discography at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse - an elegant, intimate, historic venue in San Gabriel, California. PBS filmed the show as part of its "Live from the Artists Den" series.

It became available to stream Monday as the first episode of the shows 14th season.

Previous episodes have included Elvis Costello at the New York Public Library; Robert Plant at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville; The Black Crowes at the Lyric Oxford in Mississippi; Adele at Santa Monica Bay Woman's Club; Soundgarden at The Wiltern in Los Angeles; Kid Rock at Graceland; and Norah Jones at the Green Building in Brooklyn.

Click on the photo to have a look.

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Straight from Jesus

“Red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.”

Three surprising things about that aphorism:

- People have been saying it for thousands of years.

- Jesus is said to have uttered a version of it in Matthew 16:2-3: “He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring.”

- The saying is scientifically sound as a general rule-of-thumb weather predictor. A red sky in the morning suggests that low pressure (unstable weather) is moving in from the west, pushing out high pressure (stable weather). The opposite is true when the sky glows red in the evening.

(The photo shows Lake Huron at 6 a.m. on a recent stormy day)

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Red, black and blue

Technically speaking, it’s not berry season in Michigan - not berry-harvesting season, anyway. But that doesn’t mean it’s not berry-eating season.

Elsewhere in this favored land, the bounty is flowing.

Sharon comes home from the store these days with berry-laden shopping bags and stories of fresh, succulent, beautiful berries. And they’re so much cheaper, she says, than the substandard mush available over the winter

Michigan’s time is coming. We’ll begin to see local strawberries later this month. Then raspberries around mid-July, followed by blueberries, from late July through September.

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Tchotchkes from the heart

This burst of creative energy: Does it happen at other venues, with other musicians, or is it unique to Lord Huron and Red Rocks Amphitheater ....?

For weeks now, the World Enders website has been abuzz with descriptions and photos of the things fans are bringing with them for the annual gathering of the tribe. They're small, homemade tokens from the heart the fans will pass around to each others

Stickers, patches, coasters, bracelets, key chains, koozies, guitar picks, etc., etc. ... The gift exchange get bigger each year.

The photo shows just a couple of examples.

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Penny pinchers

When some blocks came loose on the neighbor’s terraced steps leading to his front porch, he lifted them up and found something perplexing.

The mortar between the blocks was packed with pennies. Yes, pennies - plain old one-cent pieces. What you see in this photo is only a small sample. This clearly wasn’t the result of a glass piggy bank accidentally dropped on the bricks; this was obviously intentional.

I turned to the Internet for an explanation and, amazingly enough, found one. In fact, I found three, only one of which seems applicable in this case.

First, there’s the time-capsule theory: Put current-year pennines under the blocks and when, in the future, somebody rearranges them, they’ll know exactly what year the terrace was built. (The dates on my neighbor’s pennies are all over the map).

Then there’s the “good luck” theory: Burying a coin under a new floor, doorstep, or foundation, according to ancient traditions, is a symbol of prosperity. In my neighbor’s case there were too many pennies to make that plausible.

The third possibility - the most mundane one - seems to be the likeliest in this particular case: Builders sometimes use pennies as spacers or shims to level pavers, or prevent stones from sinking into wet mortar.