There's something that connects Americans and world citizens to Inauguration Day.. This year's excitement level is at a max. Barack Obama will take the reigns of the presidency in only 48 hours.. George W. Bush's days are numbered.. Wall paper is being changed, carpets are being ripped up.. photos on the walls are being replaced. The times they are a changing..

What history will make of the eight years of George W. Bush will most certainly be different from what current opinion says.. How Iraq truly turns out is something that no one will know until decades from now. How Afghanistan turns out will be decided by Obama, who wants more troops to go there..

There will be no doubt that people will look at the final four months of George Bush's presidency as the time that changed the economy so fast that decades of government stand-off policy died overnight..

When George W. Bush won, I was 20.. I was in that 18 to 25 age group.. I never got polled though. A shame, because in 2008, I was polled.. And I wasn't in the 18 to 25 age group anymore. We are all aging.. And our Presidents age, too.

Barack Obama has been treated as a God among men. He's not.. And as a matter of fact, he may even have a very difficult time moving legislation through! Time will tell.. The wind may be at his back for now, but how long the wind lasts is always a mystery when a new president takes over..

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Bush's years will be defined by 9/11, Iraq, and Katrina. I still remember that warm September morning in 2001 when over 3,000 people died in a terror attack.. I still remember the confusion, the wall-to-wall coverage for days.. It was so warm that morning.. the sky was crystal clear. But everything we knew of ourselves at the moment of the first plane impact changed forever..

Iraq's war runup will be looked at with scorn from historians. There were no weapons found. There was hostile debate between friends and family.. There was a divisive tone...

Katrina's wrath destroyed the Bush presidency. Whether fair or unfair, the federal government was seen as laying down on the job.. While credit for the disaster could easily be shared by the Mayor and the Governor, President Bush's actions were seen mostly as inaction. And the response was viewed as botched and it forever destroyed Bush's image. History will judge accordingly as to whether the response was botched or not.

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So here we are, on the brink of a new presidency, and a new four to eight years. If Obama is in charge for eight years, we will all look back and think of how old we were when he won.. I'll be closer to 40 by then.. And just 20 when George Bush won office.

Times flies by.. And we're not catching it.

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A few other things happened this week that caused some thoughts to focus on life in a different way. But I notice as one ages, the focus is less and less clear. And sooner rather than later, you don't even know the black and white anymore.. shades of gray will be all that we see...

BRYAN SMOLOCK SCHMUCKRAKER.COM SUNDAY JANUARY 18, 2009 10:54 EDT