Deming, New Mexico: More Excitement Than I Bargained For

Know what I found in Deming? Death and terror.

That sounds worse than it was. I started the day in Mountain View Cemetery, which has to be better than ending it there. (Ba da bum.) I love cemeteries, all those lives memorialized, so much history to wonder about – babies and old people and everyone in between.

Plus, my God, I needed to get off my ass and walk. And walk I did, past headstones:

Deming New Mexico

Dominguez

And memorial benches:

Deming New Mexico

Ruiz

I would have stayed longer, but I had to pee. And there was a winery on the agenda. Someone’s flowerpots had tipped over, so I righted them, then walking back to the car I was joined by this guy:

Deming New Mexico

Tell me this wasn’t an omen.

And that this wasn’t either:

Deming New Mexico

And He’s kicked little god’s ass right out of town.

Seeking more comforting environs, I moved on to the Luna Rossa Winery. (I’d like to point out it was 12:06 p.m. when I arrived, so no need to send me an AA brochure.)

I was the only customer there, so I had the staff  – a fun, smart woman named April – and the between-tasting crackers to myself.

I asked what else I should do while I was in town. April said, “Well, there’s nothing in Deming.” She was the first of three people to say that exact same thing, but I disagree. First off – a cemetery! And tarantulas! And free wine! (Okay, not exactly free, since I bought a very nice gewürztraminer and Shiraz. But still.)

But the day got even better when I found the odd and delightful Deming Luna Mimbres Museum (admission by donation). It’s at the armory, but don’t let the heavy artillery discourage you from going in:

Deming New Mexico

Welcome!

There was much to see, with all kinds of collections including Indian artifacts, old photos, antique furnishings and art, geodes, a ceramic shoe collection, button hooks, old TVs and radios. (Button hooks!) They even recreated an old Deming street, with a row of dioramas and old cars.

There was apparently a sale on mannequins when the museum was putting the exhibits together, because they stuck one in every chance they got. Usually they were fun, in a goofy way:

Deming New Mexico

Before cell phones, obviously.

The medical room was a highlight:

Deming New Mexico

I don’t want to know what goes in that suction jar.

Deming New Mexico

Get x-rays and your hair dried!

Deming New Mexico

Anyone seen Ma Bates?

Here’s a charming recreation of a child in an iron lung, complete with a nurse with her fingers and glove torn off, presumably by the unhappy child as she was being stuffed into the contraption:

Deming New Mexico

Good times.

But here’s where the mannequins started getting creepy:

Deming New Mexico

Aagh!

Or, quite simply, terrifying:

Deming New Mexico

AAGH!

Thank God I had wine in the car.

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3 Comments

  1. Terri at 6:19 pm #

    l like how you say the mannequins only started getting creepy after the exhibit with the child stuffed into the iron lung, lol. Wow, that is super creepy. I’m guessing that while you were in Tucumcari, you didn’t get to see their famous dinosaur museum or this other one whose name escapes me, but I do remember thinking that everything that was in there was so random.

    And yes, that tank is so inviting!
    Terri recently posted…So many choices of RVs!!My Profile

    • deonne at 6:59 pm #

      Terri – I didn’t see those museums, so now I have a reason to go back to Deming. : ) Thanks for letting me know!

      • Terri at 8:41 am #

        Oh, the museums I’m talking about are in Tucumcari, not Deming. Let’s just say that the one museum “suited” the town and leave it at that. Just like your sleeping next to the prison bus did. 🙂
        Terri recently posted…So many choices of RVs!!My Profile

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