Auf dem Württemberg

Up in the little town of Rotenberg across the river from me there is a most picturesque mausoleum where the former Queen Catherine Pavlovna, who died at the age of 30, lies next to her second husband, King William 1 of Württemberg. His first and third wives, both cousins of his, are buried elsewhere. Princess Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, the first wife by arrangement, was divorced from him after a six-year marriage which, they told the Pope, had never been consummated. Wife #3, Pauline Therese, suffered the same indignities of playing second and third fiddle to Wilhelm's lovers as did Katharina, and was left out of his will. The bridge in Stuttgart under which the drug addicts and winos hang out is named after her.

I've posted many pictures of the mausoleum which I took from our house; it's always the same perspective, only with different weather and light. Above you see a picture from the mausoleum back to our house.
When I go to Rotenberg, I challenge myself to see the building anew. Sometimes it becomes a tangle of architectural lines, as in the photo below.

However, when you are over there on a sunny day in autumn, you are drawn to the colorful vineyards surrounding it. And so from the vineyards you get a fresh view of the building.

Sometimes you are surprised by what - or whom - you see up in the vineyards.

Man vs Nature - man with nature.

Then I saw these very self-assured pigeons sitting up on top of a hut and took a quick snap from the road.

But I knew the shot would look much better if I had a colorful background, so I climbed up the hill and shot down, which didn't bother the birds one bit.

Or should there be more of the lovely landscape in the shot?

Or concentrate on only one bird?

The sky that day was captured by many photographer friends of mine. The particular atmospheric conditions allowed the contrails to stay visible for a long time and you could even see shadows of the vapor trails. And yet, I didn't see any pictures of the trails with a trail sign!