Why October is the best

June is perfect for writing about outdoor concerts. In January, we get to rate the top hits and lowliest stinkers of the past year’s movies. December’s dandy if you like Britten.

But October. October is aces here on the A&E desk. All the arts groups have shaken off the summer sleepies, and calendars are full of concerts, exhibits, film festivals, random people playing the kazoo. It’s a scientific fact that kazoos sound the best in October.

And Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday. (Secret: You will immediately get my attention with a Halloween press release, even in June.)

Hence, my listicle:

The Top Ten Reasons Why October Is The Best Month on the Arts Desk

1. There are always plant sales. People love fall plants. That means I get to type words like sisyrinchium and ceanothus, and advise readers to go to cool places like Common Ground and Hidden Villa and Foothill. Look, Mom. I bought you a mimulus.

2. Weather cooling off, time for quilts. CSMA is about to open an exhibit of quilts made by people at the Day Worker Center of Mountain View who were learning to stitch while waiting to find a job. Naomi Zamir started the project as a way to help people practice their English and ended up with an art exhibit.

3. Weather still warm, time for opera outside. Bring on the simulcast of San Francisco Opera’s “Falstaff,” people of Stanford Live. And expect crowds at Frost Amphitheater.

4. Press releases with borders of clip-art candy corn.

5. Restaurant reviews with pictures of soup.

6. Plays with names like “Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and Takes the Cake.” Well played, Peninsula Youth Theatre.

7. The pepper trees turning red here on Cambridge Ave. Green-and-white striped pumpkins at Mollie Stone’s. Subway’s seasonal veggie footlong: The Brocctober. (I made up the last one.)

8. Bluegrass and fruit pie. Redwood Bluegrass Associates is having twins on Oct. 26. Yep, you heard that. The concert season starts with an evening of the Canote Brothers, a Seattle duo playing old-time music replete with fiddle, banjo, buitar and ukulele. RBA puts on shows nearly every month in Mountain View, always with pie.

9. Squash.

10. I’ve got two more months to practice my high C until sing-along “Messiah” season. See you soon at MemChu and the MVCPA.