On CHS, we try to keep things focused. It’s easy to drift to topics that have nothing to do with why readers follow a site. So it’s rare for us to mix in a personal post that has nothing to do with Capitol Hill. This focus also keeps us mainly behind the curtain, so to speak. This post, however, is an exception to the rule — we’ll step off the Hill and out from behind the curtain for a moment — for a good cause.

———————
SPONSOR THESE LEGS
———————

This 4th of July — like we do every 4th — K & I are heading up to Seward AK for the Mt. Marathon race. We’re two of the lucky 600 people who get to race up — and then down — the mountain this year. You can see what this kind of athletic event does to a normal human body in this pretty-much-disgusting picture of my legs. K has been doing this crazy race forever but last year I got dragged into it. This year, I’m hoping to leverage my suffering to help a couple of lucky charities.

So, I’m putting myself up for bid over at eBay. The winning bidder gets to slap their corporate/blog/street gang logo on a shirt/hat/poncho that I will wear to the top of Mt. Marathon and, hopefully, if I survive, back to the finish line in beautiful downtown Seward.

But that’s not all! I’ll pledge all the bidding cash (minus eBay’s cut) to charity — 50% to mine, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, 50% to yours. It’s a win-win-win-hope-I-don’t-break-a-leg situation.

More details over on the eBay side of things. I have no idea if I’ll find any takers but seems like a waste of leg skin not to check it out.

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

–j