As the kindergarten class filed into the classroom, one little boy held out his hand, “For you, Mrs. Allen,” he said.
Then he opened his fingers and dropped into my hand three dandelion heads.  I knew from his grin, he thought he was giving me a treasure.  This reminded me of the dandelion bouquets my brother picked for my mom.
Brother was the kindergartner’s age or younger.  He’d roam around the large front yard of our farmhouse during dandelion season in spring.  Then he’d bring Mother a bouquet…a mass of golden dandelion heads.  No stems, just the heads.
Mother poured water into a cereal …read more

This Earth Day I’m going to run crazy through my yard and pick dandelions from the vast weed garden in my yard and boil some potatoes (that I didn’t grow because that would require a green thumb whereas dandelions do not) and whip up some DandePotatoes.
Ok, maybe not. But my father’s wife Anni did. No kidding. A couple weeks ago they were in town and Anni asks me if I was going to use my dandelions. Really, it looked like we had a garden of them out there. (And it dawned on me our fruitful supply was likely due to …read more

Let’s glance back at some of the topics I covered this week here at Mental Health Notes. I shared pictures during Sunday’s Brain Break, mused on the mental health repercussions for the FLDS religious sect children, explained why being kind to the earth (and not just on Earth Day!) was good for our minds, offered tips on how to nurture your mental health after a cancer diagnosis, honored National Poetry Month by recognizing famous poets with mental illness, and reminded you ALL that This Is Why I ROCK! is still accepting entries.

What are some of the big mental health advocacy …read more