Thesis Statement: At Ashokan I learned a good deal including how to canoe, how to make a fire poker with steel, and that there are many different interesting species of birds of prey.

One of the things I learned how to do at Ashokan was how to make specifically a fire poker out of steel. At Ashokan one of the staff had become an artist but had an “apprenticeship” with an advanced blacksmith and found it was really interesting. He eventually started working at Ashokan and became the blacksmith there. The photo shows as you are bending the metal that flakes are coming off, this is just rust. It is a very unique experience to be forging metal because you know that it is something not that many people get to do. It also helps me understand why nails were so precious during the middle ages. Though, it looks like it would not take that long for me to make a nail but, they probably knew a lot less about forging metal back then. All in all learning how to forge metal was a exciting experience to go through because it is very unique but is also super fun. However, forging metal was not the only thing I learned how to do at Ashokan, I also learned about many different species of birds of prey and some of their adaptations.