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The Pack is back! The Packers open the preseason tonight against Seattle at Lambeau. The game is on ESPN, and even though preseason games are usually pretty dull, we’ll have the game on.

And what better way to start the Packers’ march to the Super Bowl? With brats of course! And not just any brats, but garlic butter bratwurst from Swiss Meat & Sausage Company in Swiss, Missouri. Growing up in Wisconsin, I always thought we had the best brats, but I have to admit I’ve found a new favorite. Sorry Usinger’s and Johnsonville, but these are the best!

If you live in the St. Louis area, drive out to Hermann, and keep heading south on 19 to Swiss, and you’ll see Swiss Meats on the left side of the road. They have every kind of sausage and meat you can imagine, and they are all great. If you don’t live in the area, do yourself a favor and visit the website and call in an order. They ship nationwide.

On Saturday morning we woke up to find a hawk in our backyard, finishing a morning meal of morning dove. I grabbed the camera and snapped one picture from upstairs. I ran down to the kitchen to take a closer shot, but it was gone in a flash. Collen and I went out to see if there was anything to clean up, but it had consumed the whole dove, leaving only piles of feathers scattered around the yard.

The hawk is one of a pair that lives in the area. We watched one of them grab a rodent of some type off the hillside behind our house, and I spotted one perched on a house one time. Collen is a little big for them to go after, but if I had a little Yorkie or other tiny dog, I might think twice about letting it out unattended.

!http://images5.fotki.com/v73/photos/2/247084/914007/hawk-vi.jpg (Hawk in backyard)!

Hawk having breakfast in our backyard