Hi Ashley,
If I hadn't read that article, I might have stained the wood, doing a poor job, since in cold weather the stain doesn't get absorbed. Then I would have to remove the stain, and leave it, or remove and reapply it properly in spring.
Now I can just leave it until spring, without feeling discouraged that I'd forgotten something from my "to do" list. In fact, I don't have to do it at all, since staining requires redoing the job every 5 years. Wood is naturally resistant, depending what you have, so I'm only out a bucket of stain, and a brush, and a lot of obsessing until spring!
And Davit gave me a good reminder about nails and wood use for a future project. Who would have known that nails can cause rot?
Davit, regarding the humidifier, I also was about to snap one up at a big box store, but realized we have moderately hard water. That means I'd have to buy a lot of distilled water. The alternative is to buy a humidifier which softens the water itself, and it would save buying distilled water and the health risks of breathing in the residue from a humidifier, and dusting.
Life has it's daily challenges