President Barack Hussein Obama does not appear to be taking aging well.  In Berlin yesterday, Obama began his remarks with a recollection of his 2008 speech as a candidate, which drew 10s of thousands of European spectators.

“It was eight years ago,” he wistfully noted, back when “I had no gray hair.”

The president’s references to his changing hair color are becoming more frequent as his tenure draws to a close. And they’re almost always used as a barometer for the passage of time. Referencing any date prior to 2009 now includes a reflexive tangent on how his hair used to be less gray.

What’s also striking about these meditations on his mane — usually inserted into speeches as an intended laugh line — is how he’ll include them even in the more serious moments of statesmanship.

Speaking at Rev. Clementa Pinckney’s funeral following the mass killing at the Mother Emanuel A.M.E. church, the president joked the last time he had seen Pinckney he had less gray hair.

When he spoke alongside the French president, Francois Hollande, following last year’s horrific terrorist attack, Obama began with a reference to a trip he took with Michelle to the Luxembourg Gardens. “It was early on,” he said, “I had no gray hair.”

During a recent appearance at the Pentagon, Obama blamed “my Syria meetings” for creating “a big chunk of my gray hair.”

Fortunately, the president remains overall upbeat about his appearance. Despite the graying wool, “I still look good,” he recently told a crowd of young students.