Life in the rainy Puget Sound region makes mud encounters a regular occurrence. Parents avoid it, while kids typically relish squelching around in it. In March, when rain and the mud flows freely around Puget Sound, put on your boots and make the most of this muddy season. Other studies, including a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, report that children raised on farms are significantly less likely to develop asthma than children who are not. A study by Northwestern University in Chicago, following thousands of children in the Philippines over 21 years, reports that when children are exposed to germs and pathogens during infancy, their risk of developing cardiovascular inflammation and autoimmune diseases in adulthood is reduced.