Sweet peas and animal altercations on TV

I'm so proud of my sweet peas. I harvested the seeds last fall, planted them and crossed my fingers this spring, and they've delivered. I tried to harvest seeds from each color; inevitably, there was one color which prevailed (purple in this case) but still a lovely variety. They're now joyfully clambering up the archway to the garden, and walking through them is an aromatic delight.

A few weeks ago, our dog got into an altercation with a cat; as I did not witness it, I have to rely on second-hand accounts. According to these sources, each combatant attempted grievous bodily harm on the other, and it only ended when bystanders broke them up. In other words, the cat scratched the dog, the dog scratched the cat, and Partner hauled the dog away from the car the cat hid under. She's a terrier, and that means she wants to kill small furry things; in her mind, cats fall into this category. Never mind that most cats are the same size or bigger. Ever since, whenever we walk by, Beauty wants to have a really good look underneath that car.

I've just read a book called Remotely Controlled, which is about how TV damages people's (and particularly children's) lives, especially their social skills, not to mention their bodies and self-esteem. Whether or not everything claimed is true, it's still a lot to think about. I had read that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children should not watch any TV until the age of two, and before reading this book, that is what I had planned for Franklin. Now I think I don't want to expose him to any TV ever!

I don't watch much myself--there is one program I look forward to every week, and I almost always end up watching the episode online. So at the moment I watch 45 minutes a week, and this doesn't even involve the actual TV (though it involves a screen, which still counts). Apparently the average person watches four hours a day--that's 12 years over their lifetime! Just think of the time they could spend working on hobbies, or getting fit, or hanging out with friends or family. The book posed the question (and I paraphrase): if on your deathbed you could have back those 12 years to spend with your loved ones, would you say, "No thanks, I'm glad I watched all that TV"?