On a jaggedly rocky peninsula in Norway, slapped by ocean waves and glowered upon by darkly sprawling clouds, a woman in a simple white dress and sunhat makes her way along a stone path slashed and cracked over centuries by the elements. Not for the first or last time, she carries with her a large muslin sack, and once she reaches the end of the headland, she proceeds to empty its contents — scattering what look to be thousands of pale mineral flecks over the rocks and into the sea. They rattle