Dear Sir,
Every time I drive up Florida Road to go to Bread (OK, Star Liquor), I can’t help but wonder what the origin was for naming Quasar Street, and the further down Galaxy Drive. I imagine you will need top security clearance to get to the bottom of the X-files on the UFO landing or meteor impact or Grateful Dead insofar as to whatever happened here, but “the truth is out there”!
Signed, A Newly Retired Person with Too Much Time on Her Hands
Dear Newly Retired,
Grateful Dead? OK, it does turn out that they did a song retelling “The Greatest Story Ever Told” from the Bible, explaining how “Moses come riding up on a quasar.” I had always thought it was a basket of bulrush, but you learn something new every day.
The streets you are referring to are in a 1970s development behind J. Bo.’s, which also has a “Nebula Way.” I contacted the city, which said they are actually “in the county,” which means it’s an enclave not incorporated into the city of Durango, despite being largely surrounded by the city limits. As to why and how they got named that by the developer, the reasons are ... I don’t know, cloudy and unclear (there must a better word) – I reached out to one historian who speculated that “maybe they were a Star Trek fan,” which makes about as much sense to me as anything else – which is to say it has about as much sense as a left-hand monkey wrench.
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Dear Mr. Action Line,
You recently mentioned your better half, Ms. Action Line. It seems most (if not all) of the former Action Line editors had the good fortune to also have support from the Mrs.? I’d like to someday make a career change and become a famous Durango Herald Action Line writer; however, I do not currently have a Mrs. Question: Will finding a good Mrs. help me land that job? Or will landing the job help me find a good Mrs.?
Signed, Missing a Mrs.
Dear Missing a Mrs.,
Short answer, yes – as Ms. Action line could tell you, having a Ms. has given me a lot of practice mansplaining, which is what this job is all about. For instance: did you know that before the mid-20th century when “Ms.” became common as a feminist, marriage-neutral alternative to “Miss” or “Mrs.,” it originated in the 17th and 18th centuries as an abbreviation for “mistress,” a title used for all women regardless of marital status. But the job is not actually limited to men, of course, and there have been a couple of female action Action Line writers over the years, although I don’t recall if they had a Mr., or a Ms. for that matter, and I don’t know if all the writers have had a better half. Maybe you need a mistress – but just be sure to call her Ms. and not Mrs.
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Today’s Fun Facts: A galaxy is a collection of solar systems that can be spiral, elliptical or irregular – ours is the spiral Milky Way. A quasar is found at the core of young galaxies, powered by supermassive black holes, emitting light that makes them the brightest objects in the universe. A nebula is an interstellar medium of formations of gas, dust and other materials that might eventually become dense enough to form stars – both the English adjective “nebulous” and the cosmic term “nebula” come from the Latin noun “nebula,” meaning “cloud.”
