It is a relatively new word for me. At least with the meaning that showed up this week. In my brief stint of knitting years ago, blocking meant the process of convincing  the knotted yarn to stay put. You get the sweater all soggy and pin it to a flat surface. While the project dries it acquiesces to the shape you chose. I'm pretty sure the sweater ends up believing it was her own idea.

 

Blocking is also the prearranged positions that actors take when on stage. Since our family is in the Christmas Tableaux, and Annie opened on Friday, there is a lot of attention paid to precisely where people stand. Sometimes it verges on bossy, when the directors shift unsuspecting players a foot to the right or left. They walk around the room and inspect the cast from all angles, getting the overall balance just so. 

 

I find it intriguing that the word also refers to forbidding access. Phones can be blocked. Volleyballs too. Roads around a parade have barricades. Each obstacle exists to redirect, either a caller, or the line of cars.

 

One time I had an opinion about how someone I care about was acting. In my head the dialogue took shape about how I would inform them of their infraction. But the opportunity to deliver the speech never came. It was almost as if it was blocked. Our next interaction was more pleasant than a reprimand would have been and it felt as if it was my own idea. But later it occurred to me that there may have been a Director who saw our relationship from a wider angle.