Kiva Plans

What is a kiva you may ask? Well, don't do a Google Search (prior to today's posting) and expect to find anything that even resembles what you are looking for if you work and teach in the Alpine School District! The classroom term kiva means a small tiered seating arrangement used during group instruction.

• The true meaning of a kiva is "a room used by modern Puebloans for religious rituals, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, kivas are square-walled and above-ground, and are used for spiritual ceremonies."

Since Camille began teaching a year ago she's wanted to have a kiva for her classroom but we've had a difficult time locating plans (and for me, I wasn't even sure what it was supposed to look like). She'd pretty much given up hope for getting one this year since school starts in 2 weeks.

Earlier this week I went to help Camille prepare her classroom for the new school year and finally got to see a kiva in the flesh, or in this case, in the wood. As soon as I saw it I said "How hard can it be?" I took some rough measurements and came home and sat down to start drawing up plans. It didn't take long to for me to realize that I had no idea what the frame of this kiva should look like... great, now what?






Then it hit me like a bolt of lightening!!! Duh! Your son-in-law is an architect!! So I called Curt and asked him for some help. He started sketching and 3 days later I had some rough plans! Yay... How hard can it be? (Are we starting to see a pattern here?)








Camille, her friend, Katie, and I went to Home Depot to buy the needed lumber and supplies (make note, don't send a Momma to do a man's job... I got some totally tweaked 2 x 4's). I called Kevin and asked him if he would transport the supplies to my house and loan me his tools so I could build these bad boys.









But Kevin did my one much better! He brought his tools AND himself AND his wonderful expertise as a framer and woodworker.













Even with Curt's plans, I know I would have been a little out-classed with this job... but "How hard can it be?"









Apparently if you have a wonderful and talented family it's not so hard after all. I sat in the garage (it was quite hot, do I get credit for that?), was minimal help to Kevin but lots of moral support.









Now all that is left for me to do is sand, stain and carpet the treads and risers (notice those technical terms?)















And THAT is something I can do... likely all by myself without any additional help from wonderful family. I will keep you updated with the finished project!

So stay tuned for more updated photos of the finished kiva.