As recounted by Switch, Elder Gnome of Meraki
Ahem... gather round, dear Meraki friends, and lend an ear to an old gnome who has seen many a winter’s eve. It is I, Switch, the elder of the Meraki gnomes, here to regale you with tales of old. I wish to share the chronicles of our grandest holiday mischief with ye.
You see, as the snow begins to fall each December, a certain restlessness stirs in my old bones. And every year, my sprightly companions and I have snuck off from our cozy shelf to embark upon the annual trek in the tradition you humans have come to know as...
Gnome in the Home
Ah yes, six glorious years of escapades, capers, hijinks and hoodwinks. Let us reminisce for a moment on Switchmases past...
- There was our inaugural 2018 adventure, in which MV scampered off to hide throughout the Meraki office, including in a bucket of CMNA polos, and in @CarolineS's Christmas tree.
- In 2019, there was a streak of thefts around the office, and Detectives MV and MX were on the case! Luckily, Sherlock Gnomes was able to solve the mystery and save Switchmas.
- By 2020, you humans were stuck indoors, but we? Oh, we took a grand tour of the community, scampering off into the heavily falling snow and making demands for LOTS of candy.
- In 2021, we set off on a magnificent holiday adventure, but not before we unplugged and powered down (and caused a little chaos in the process!).
- With 2022 came a particularly dramatic retelling of A Switchmas Carol, where I played all three ghosts, mind you, and quite convincingly, if I do say so myself.
- Then came 2023, where my old pal, MV, and I got up to gnome good again. We got into all sorts of mischief, including revisiting Switchmas posts past and leaving tiny flour footprints after a long night of baking.
- Last year, 2024, we snuck off again after helping to wrap some last minute Switchmas presents, but you solved the riddle we left and helped restore us to our rightful home.
Ah, memories... warm enough to toast my tiny toes.
Now, the year is 2025, and the gnomes are restless once more.
My eyesight may be a tad foggy, and MV may creak when he bends, but the spirit of adventure? Still alive! Still mischievous! Still absolutely determined to get us into lighthearted trouble! And so, dear friends, we set out once more. Only this year, we’ve made things a tad more… interesting.
This year, MV and I have split up, each wandering to a different corner of the Meraki Community. Two paths. Two hiding spots. Two clues for you clever humans to decipher. Your quest, should you choose to embrace the merriment, is simple: Find us! Follow the clues we’ve left behind to uncover our secret hiding places tucked within the threads of the Meraki Community.
How to Play
Use the clues in this post to find MV and Switch, each hiding in a different location:
- Clue for Switch:
I scampered to a place where virtual clouds span,
Through Azure-blue skies and a routed LAN.
Follow the steps where WAN paths align,
There you’ll spot old Switch, in a vMX design.
- Clue for MV:
I wandered where Meraki’s product forests grow,
With branches of gear in a neat little row.
Where line-trees are mapped from root down to limb,
You’ll find little me, if your search skills aren’t dim.
When you find each gnome, comment below with “I FOUND THE GNOME!” and include the links to their hiding spots. Comments will remain hidden for the duration of the challenge. You have until Wednesday, December 17th at 11am ET to submit your entries. Once the contest ends, we’ll draw 3 winners at random from those who found the correct posts to win a festive prize of a Cisco beanie hat.*
*to be sent after January 5, 2026
A final word from old gnome Switch...
As dusk settles on another year, I find myself grateful for all of you who have played along with our antics since 2018. Every clue solved, every gnome found, every bit of holiday cheer shared across this community warms our little gnome hearts.
Happy Gnome in the Home 2025, dear Meraki friends. May your switches stay stacked, your Wi-Fi stay strong, and your spirits stay bright. ❄️⭐🔔
