Dust and grime accumulates on the plants’ leaves during our dry season,
coating trees, shrubs and little plants, making them look dull by the end of
summer. Our first serious rain and wind of the fall does a little clean-up; the
combination of rain and wind scour the leaves to reveal amazing variations of
the color green. The wet leaves make all the plants look shiny so that the
greens and plant textures are accentuated for awhile until the wet evaporates
and the brightness of the next sunny break washes out the color. I like to
think the scrubbing improves plants’ photosynthesis and that in addition to
knocking down the dust, the plants get a boost in oxygen production making the
air in the yard, after a windy rainy cleaning, fresh and yummy. Ahhh, deep
breath.

This was written in October 2011.