Instability

Yesterday morning I went in to the office early, even though it was a Saturday. My aim: Finish code to generate configurations for my simulations of DNA-Nanoparticle systems. The day before I had been unable to resolve bugs in my topology generation. The bugs were relatively easy to ferret out. Then, I had to resolve the issue of instability; my simulations would explode after 40000 timesteps. (This is due to two sites in the model being integrated forward in time. The resulting positions produce forces to be calculated that they are so high that they propel the sites off to infinity in the next step.) This numerical instability can be a tricky issue to solve and it is still a work in progress. However, this experience got me thinking about another type of instability: that experienced while rocking climbing later that day.

I spent most of the afternoon at Devil's Lake State Park climbing on the East Bluff. (Made possible because I went in to the office at 6 AM). The weather was gorgeous, the rock was fantastic, and I had a great time. As I rappelled down after reaching the top of the route, I marveled at how willing I was to let myself dangle in the air. What might have otherwise been an unfavorable experience was made enjoyable because I was protected by a rope anchored to some rocks and was belayed by a trustworthy climbing partner. And so it is with life. With the proper anchor, situations that might seem perilous become routine. Good friends can support us when we are incapable of supporting ourselves.

I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ which, like my rope and webbing, keeps me anchored to the wall of life. I am also grateful for my friends and family who provide love and support, thus keeping me from experiences that might otherwise cause me to explode!

Appendix:

The configurations I was generating. The tetrahedral pyramid is a novel CG representation of my sphere.