“How’s your business so far this summer?” I asked the woman behind the counter.

“We’re down,” she said, giving me an answer I already knew. “Last year we had the problem with the lake, and now the economy. People cancel and I ask them why. ‘I lost my job,’ they tell me.”

Our exchange occurred early Sunday morning. I was pouring a cup of coffee in the lobby of what you might call a classic Wisconsin tourist hotel. We were staying there with friends for a weekend away kayaking. Our exchange continued.

“How long have you owned this place?”

“For 27 years. I hope we make it through this one.”

“The flooding hurt you pretty bad last year, then …”

“We were off 50 percent. Then last winter the weather was so bad. And now the economy. We’re off almost that much again.”

From there we chatted just a bit about business and the future. She asked about me and I told her a little about the agency.

“So you think it will be better in the fall?” she asked hopefully.

“Well, I think it’s going to bottom out, that it’s already bottoming out. We think it may start getting better in the fall.”

“I hope you’re right,” she said.

A couple came in for a map, and I drifted out the door.

“We should stay here again in the fall,” I told our friends. “I’d just like to give these people some business.”