Let me preface this by saying that I love figurative language, but I hate the figurative use of the word literally.

A few weeks ago it was literally raining iguanas on the roof of my classroom.  My classroom resides beneath a lovely large tree that produces what look like mini mangos.  For days the sound of these little fruits plopping down onto our canvas roof supplied the arrhythmic beat of our background.  Then one day there was a sudden PLOP that was much louder than any preceding plop.  It instantly grabbed my attention, and when I looked up I realized I was looking at the unmistakable silhouette of an iguana.

That PLOP was just the first of many that day.  Intrigued by the sudden raining of iguanas, I stepped out to investigate and instantly realized what was happening.  Whereas most of the mini-mango-looking fruits drop and roll to the ground, several had gotten caught by the wooden frame of the roof.  The iguanas were making their way out on the limbs of the tree and then dropping down to retrieve the fruit.

However, low-lying fruit is not all that it’s cracked up to be.  These poor iguanas, so accustomed to their abilities to scale trees thanks to their long claws, were in for a big surprise every time they landed on the canvas roof.  Unable to cling to anything, they would slide all the way down until the wooden frame caught them.  Perplexed and terrified by their new predicament, they would then try to make a run for the peak of the roof, only to slide back down again and again.

They all eventually figured out that they needed to walk the perimeter of the frame until they were close enough to leap onto the tree trunk and climb home.  Sorry guys, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch.