About the only good thing to come out of a drought is that it brings lost tools to the surface. As the soil hardens and the pastures dry out, that spanner dropped while fixing a water pipe or the pliers lost fencing can reappear. It evokes a frisson of pleasure in an otherwise stressful time. But Central Hawke's Bay farmer Steve Wyn-Harris was unprepared for the emotional jolt he received when he found a long-lost item of clothing. "I was zipping across a paddock on my bike when a flash of blue caught my eye, " he says. "A bit of work with my sheath knife, and I unearthed a very small gumboot. "I clutched it to my chest, misty-eyed, transported back to a wonderful time." It had been 15 years...
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