Last Mowing

I mowed the lawn yesterday and finished it today. It takes me three hours. I use a walk behind mower that is really too small for the job. Nonetheless, I have mowed my own lawn for sixteen seasons with the exception of last year when I had two men do it for me, at Sally's urging. It was a present. And one time, years ago, when neice Emilie Inoue visited, and she mowed it for me when I was off at work. Jan's Katrine may have mowed it once, too, or part of it. No matter who, I do the best job by far, but it takes me three hours. Nice neat, annal retentive, perfect rows, and I expand the lawn area. Most lawn services allow the grass to creep in, making the area they mow smaller each time, inch by inch each time. I have chosen to mow my lawn as a matter of pride, carrying it a bit too far, possibly. I have noticed that no one else on the street mows their own lawn. While I see it as a right of ownership, a kind of privilege and responsibility. I am old-fashioned, I guess. Most of the neighbors look at me sideways, as if I am some kind of a nutbar. The truth is, there are many other things to do with three hours most weekends between May and November. Many, many other things.

A few years from now, I may not be able to do this, or, maybe, I'll have my own tractor? It is not about money, exactly. I have gone through two mowers since we moved here. The first one was a Honda and it was very expensive; the current one is from Sears and it cost about half as much as the first one. Not including cleaning, I have spent about a thousand dollars on them. Professional lawn services cost about a thousand for a year. So, by my own accounting, I am about 15,000 dollars ahead,a rough computation. How do I calculate any lost opportunity cost?