It’s been a trying year. We live in a nation so divided that too many can’t stop being selfish long enough to wear a mask and stay a few feet from others.

The economy is in a funk, we’re sick of lockdowns and the dreary daily drumbeat of virus death. If you aren’t anxious and worried, there could be something wrong with your mental health.

This summer isn’t one for globetrotting; who wants to stuff into the middle seat of an airplane?

Yet we New Englanders are blessed. The weather is wonderful, all whipped cream clouds, sun-dappled beaches and gentle evening breezes leavening humidity.

You may not have the resources for a fancy getaway. You can still have a great staycation. Too many in our watery slice of the nation take for granted the loveliness around us.

It’s time to kick back. Unplug the laptop; some digital detox would be good for us all. Put anxiety on hold; your problems will be back soon enough. Recognize that we all need a break from work and family routines. Stop incessantly checking your 401K.

No one has to be wealthy to embrace the joy of a New England summer. Even if just for a few days or a week, a respite will prove restorative.

Get off the couch. Turn off the T.V. Get in touch with nature through hiking, camping and cooking out. Explore our bike paths and sand dunes. Slather on some sunscreen, grab a book and head to one of our sandy beaches. Lose yourself in a good read while listening to the surf crash, wheeze and wash toward your beach towel. Have a fab lunch or dinner with native corn, steamers or a lobstah roll. Pick blueberries and maybe even freeze a few pounds you can savor on Thanksgiving.

Go to a drive-in movie. What’s old is new again.

Get on a ferry and sail to Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket. Explore somewhere you’ve never been -- a New Hampshire lake, a Vermont mountain or Maine’s Casco Bay.

It’s time to get acquainted or reacquainted with your surroundings. One of the virtues of where we live is that you can be deep in the woods or mountains on a tank of gas.

The tennis courts and golf courses are open. Get out there. 

How about a visit to the New Bedford Whaling Museum, to the floral beauty of Bristol’s Blithewold or the historic Marconi Light on Cape Cod?

The Red Sawx aren’t playing yet, but on a day trip to Boston you can take in the Freedom Trail or a duck boat tour. Yes, the duck boats are back. So is Newport polo.

How about hitting an ice cream stand? Be nice to scooping kids and leave a good tip. 

Try to take the long view. The last time the economy was this bleak, voters ushered in the election of Franklin Roosevelt, a wealthy reformer. That brought the New Deal --think social security, government jobs programs, recognition of labor unions. Then came the defeat of Fascism and a spasm of economic growth that bred the largest middle class the world has ever known.

Take a deep breath. Consider the words of poet Mary Oliver.

“I go down to the shore in the morning and depending on the hour, the waves are rolling in or moving out. And I say, oh I am miserable. What shall ---What shall I do. And the sea says in its lovely voice, excuse me I have work to do.”

Give yourself a break. You deserve it. I’m heading off to R&R in Vermont . See you in a couple of weeks.