Tim Geithner, meet Tim Sample.

When you two are done gabbing, we’re going ice-fishing, Mr. Treasury Secretary. Then we’re off to Rangeley, where the trails have been groomed nice and smooth, just for you. Better hope your security detail knows how to handle a sled.

Maybe we’ll go skiing for an afternoon at Lost Valley, or play some pond hockey. If you came this week, we could have hit the big tournament in Augusta. We can shop at Marden’s, stop for dogs at Simones, and then head out to Jay and Rumford, where all the millworkers and their families can’t wait to talk to you.

Along the way, we’ll stop at every small business, so you can hear – firsthand – what this great country needs to get itself moving. Bring a notebook – though Washington, D.C., has its fair share of policy experts, there’s no scarcity of smart people with opinions up here, either.

They just might not be as polished. Which is exactly why you, Tim, should hear them.

No offense, but somebody who moves from inside Wall Street to inside the Beltway doesn’t really understand the lay of this land. You’re like an interstellar traveler, hopping from one place to the next, without paying attention to the space and stars in between.

That’s no way to run an economy, Tim. You are insulated by your environment, the great American galaxies of money and politics, where the slightest tremors cause aftershocks for the rest of us floating in the cosmos, defenseless against the conditions these places wrought.

Two things we see, from here. When it comes to losing billions of dollars, nobody beats out Wall Street. And when it comes to spending billions of dollars, nobody can trump the government of the United States of America. But those places run by their own rules.

We, unfortunately, must stick to ours. When our ledgers run red, nobody rides to our rescue with a backslap and a cash pile. In average households, just in case you haven’t been watching the consumer market, deficit spending is not an economic policy, it’s hell’s highway.

Most of all, Tim, you need to see how this country runs. It doesn’t run on derivatives, credit-default swaps, liquidity formulas or other wonkish fiscal calculations. It runs on tight margins, hard work, personal sacrifice and – right now – despite a great deal of uncertainty.

Times are rough. As much as we need leaders in government and finance to fix what’s broken, we need them to know what they’ve done. Every foreclosure tells a story, Tim. Start with our Feb. 8 issue, page A1. There are 15 of them.

Sen. Olympia Snowe understands this. She’s encouraged you to travel the countryside, barnstorm if you please, to see America on its level, not Washington or Wall Street’s.

She knows if you dawdle in those places long enough, your worldview becomes skewed. Reality can take a holiday in your hometowns, Tim. Come visit us for awhile, see what it’s like.

Then go back there and tell them what you’ve learned.