At the end of rice harvesting season, the folks of the Kagawa and Niigata Prefectures in Japan hold a straw festival to celebrate the abundance of the harvest. Dried straws cover wooden frames to form larger-than-life sculptures from animals like sharks and gorillas to vessels such as ships and tanks. The family-friendly event invites visitors of all ages to engage, interact, and play on the enormous structures.

A man carries a block of ice left behind by a hailstorm in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 19, 2014. After the severe overnight hailstorm a layer of hailstones as deep as 20 centimeters covered streets and parks, drawing people to make snowmen and play in the ice, an unusual scene to the city. (Photo by Nelson Antoine/AP Photo)

Maine-based Robert Dowling Jr. creates wonderfully whimsical stories with a slightly surreal touch. The self-taught artist, who works primarily in acrylics and oils, often paints characters with their faces covered or turned away. Love art like this that both children and adults can enjoy in their own unique way.

This project features a house covered (inside and out) with thousands of round mirrors that makes it nearly camouflaged. The round mirrors have different shapes and size because each one was handcut by the artist. Visitors are in for a unique experience when the mirrors interactive with nature, glistening as it reflects sunlight while gently flickers when the wind blows.

Hawaii has long been known as a tropical paradise, but in recent years another image has intruded into the state's carefully crafted one of idyllic beaches and relaxing resorts: homelessness. The number of homeless people has grown in recent years, leaving the state with 487 homeless per 100,000 people, the nation's highest rate per capita, above New York and Nevada, according to federal statistics. Many of the homeless, however, defy the stereotype of the mentally ill or drug addicted. They are families, with men and women who work full-time jobs. They are struggling to get a foothold in a place with a high cost of living and low wages. Here: in this Thursday, August 27, 2015 photo, a homeless man drinks water while sitting on the beach at Ala Moana Beach Park located near Waikiki in Honolulu. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

In this picture taken on Thursday, December 1, 2016, an Iranian woman covers herself with a blanket due to the cold, while visiting Khour salt lake during her tour of the Mesr desert about 305 miles (500 kilometers) southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran. Deserts make up parts of Iran which have recently become tourist destination for young Iranians looking for a break on their weekend. The increase in tourists to the desert has stimulated economic growth in the area. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

Protesters run for cover after riot police fired tear gas towards the bridge they were climbing down to the road below, to escape from Hong Kong Polytechnic University campus and from police, in Hung Hom district in Hong Kong on November 18, 2019. Dozens of Hong Kong protesters escaped a besieged university campus on November 18 by lowering themselves on a rope from a footbridge to a highway, AFP video showed. Once on the road they were seen being picked up by waiting motorcyclists. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)

A pedestrian wearing a form of PPE (personal protective equipment) of a perspex full-face covering, as a precautionary measure against COVID-19, walks across Oxford Street in central London on June 11, 2020, as non-essential shops prepare to re-open on June 15. Britain's current guidelines on social distancing remain at two metres (2M), but business leaders and some politicians are on Thursday calling for it to be reduced to one (1M), or one-and-a-half (1.5M) metres. (Photo by Justin Tallis/AFP Photo)