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Kitchen Table Kibitzing: Stella and Jack's Enchanted Path in Bolinas [1]

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Date: 2025-07-03

Last week, I received a poignant email from a stranger which transported me back home to Bolinas, most specifically to a trip I took back in 2012, the day before I had to put my dog Stella to sleep. The subject line read:

Loved your Blog Post re: Stella and Jack's Enchanted Path in Bolinas!

Here’s the email in its entirety:

Hey there Deborah,

I hope you are doing well and having a lovely week.

My name is Daniel, and although we haven't met, I'm reaching out as a fan of your writing. that described your pup Stella's final trip to Bolinas, and I was moved by the way you described the connection you and your family have to that beautiful place.



Last weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting Bolinas and Agate Beach for the first time, and was intrigued by the "enchanted forest" path that connects your old neighborhood to the ocean. I'm a history nerd and love to learn the stories behind beautiful places like that, so I had to find out more about why it was built and who the "Jack's Path" sign referred to.



While searching online, I couldn't find much about it -- only what you had written about your memories there, and that suggests he may have built the path.



I know I'm just a stranger who found your email address online, but seeing as you're one of the only people I've found with a personal connection to the place, I was wondering if you knew Jack or any of the Roeck family, or if you might have any stories about that place you'd be happy to share with me?



I'm just one of many curious tourists, but would love to learn more about this hidden gem or if anyone has made any efforts to preserve it or clean it up, as it does seem to be in a state of disrepair compared to your photos from several years ago. I recently stumbled upon a blog post you wrote back in 2012 that described your pup Stella's final trip to Bolinas, and I was moved by the way you described the connection you and your family have to that beautiful place.Last weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting Bolinas and Agate Beach for the first time, and was intrigued by the "enchanted forest" path that connects your old neighborhood to the ocean. I'm a history nerd and love to learn the stories behind beautiful places like that, so I had to find out more about why it was built and who the "Jack's Path" sign referred to.While searching online, I couldn't find much about it -- only what you had written about your memories there, and the obituary of a gentleman named Jack Roecks that suggests he may have built the path.I know I'm just a stranger who found your email address online, but seeing as you're one of the only people I've found with a personal connection to the place, I was wondering if you knew Jack or any of the Roeck family, or if you might have any stories about that place you'd be happy to share with me?I'm just one of many curious tourists, but would love to learn more about this hidden gem or if anyone has made any efforts to preserve it or clean it up, as it does seem to be in a state of disrepair compared to your photos from several years ago.

My daughter was sleeping over on the day I received the email and I shared it with her. We both thought it was perhaps AI generated or somehow suspicious until she did a google search for “Bolinas — Jack’s Path — Stella,” and sure enough, the Daily Kos article Stella, Stella, Stella appeared near the top of the results.

Reading the post again made me nostalgic, not only for the years I spent living in Bo but also for the passion with which I once wrote. These days, I just can’t seem to connect with my creative side. The post obviously was something I put a lot of time and love into. Writing today, I pulled out my thesaurus and my dictionary for the first time in years: both books were no longer readily at hand on my desktop. I had forgotten how the thesaurus was always my favorite book.

I’ve written three diaries about pets at Daily Kos. This one about Stella, one on the day Macaroni died, and another about a trip I took to my old house with Stella when we located Bobo’s dog house submerged in overgrowth under the same tree where we had relocated it after his death. (The ashes of three of our dogs — Willie, Stella, and Bobo — are buried next to the dog house.)

It’s been a long time since Jack’s Path was accessible via Agate Beach — multiple slides of rocks and earth from the cliffs have closed it off. I used to be able to walk down to the path from my house (it began beneath the house, with brick bridges criss-crossing the creek en route to the ocean) as the owners were never there. But for the past few years, the house has been rented and there has always been a car in front. The only other way to the path is from a street up above which is in a remote section of Agate Beach, only readily available to a few locals. In all the years we lived there it was quite rare for someone to come down to the beach that way. I have often thought how unfitting that such a magical place was no longer attainable, mystically calling to mind the old adage “if a tree falls and no one hears it ...”

It was so profound to discover that someone had actually stumbled upon the path and taken the time to reach out to me. Thirteen years after I wrote about it.

Truly enchanting.

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