Although the sun has an average temperature of 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the moving, churning gases of its surface vary, and its temperature is known to slightly cool. Astronomers are presently perplexed by an extended cool season the sun is experiencing.

Weekly religion rail, with items on new policies at BYU, a new U.S. envoy to the Muslim world, and more.

Whenever I write a column about guns, I get at least a few responses from people who don't call me names, who use proper grammar and present their arguments in a reasonable manner. So when I heard that a pastor in Louisville, Ky., was having a "Bring Your Gun To Church Day," I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. It wasn't easy.

Plants that produce gray and silver leaves seem to glow even on the gloomiest days.

Since it apparently is going to rain forever in New England, we have had to get creative with our time. June has been a total washout. My 10-year-old is the king of solitaire, and my husband has developed a fixation with the lighting in our downstairs bathroom. I have been doing a little shopping, while trying to remember our new budgetary restrictions – we have affectionately named our financial state as “crash and burn.”

When I did my chaplaincy training years ago, one of the most striking differences I encountered between myself and my Christian colleagues was the ease and frequency with which they uttered “spontaneous” prayers and blessings.

Well-watered and weeded, one little garden plot stands as a testament to the preschoolers who work it.

There are certain things in life that are simply unavoidable. Try as you might, you’ll never stop them — I’m talking about things like winter, or a steam engine, or another season of “Scrubs.” And then there’s my latest addition to this list: my children’s impending teenagerhood.

I was in that sort of half-asleep, not-yet-awake place one morning when I heard the sound of water dripping. At first I thought I was dreaming about a leaky faucet in the kids’ bathroom. Then, as I started to wake up, I thought it actually was a leaky faucet in the kids’ bathroom. But as I became fully awake, I realized it was actually the sound of water hitting the bathroom floor.

Weekly family rail, with a review of the new “Transformers” movie, tips on volunteering and more.

Weekly financial Q&A, with items on level pay, salesman tips and marital finances.

Weekly home and garden rail, with items on ceiling fans, tips for storing your pots and pans, summer lawn-care advice, and more.

Did you ever get a dumb song lyric so stuck in your head you wanted to consult a neurosurgeon?
I worked alongside an editor for a couple years who had the mindless habit of humming, “The Girl from Ipanema,” under his breath several hundred times per day.

Back when I was 11 or 12, I lived the American Fourth of July dream in Illinois.

My college essay to get into Emerson College was actually about Darth Vader. We were asked to write about the person that we most wanted to meet. I selected good ol' Darth.