奧巴馬買玫瑰送妻子 慶結婚紀念日

White House hopeful Barack Obama brought his motorcade to a halt Friday to dash out and buy a dozen white roses on his 16th wedding anniversary prior to a "romantic dinner" with wife Michelle.

Following a campaign rally, the lengthy convoy of police outriders, Secret Service cars, staff vans and press buses ground to a stop behind Obama's black-tinted SUV outside "Penny's Flowers."

The Democrat spent 20 minutes inside, chatting with shop employees, picking out the roses and making a short declaration to accompanying reporters welcoming the adoption in Congress of a financial rescue package.

"These are beautiful, I like the arrangement and everything, it looks nice," he told employee Mary Darcy after she handed him the roses arranged with baby's breath and wrapped in cellophane.

The 47-year-old presidential candidate planned to present the flowers to his wife ahead of their anniversary meal in Chicago Friday evening.

Outside the florists, Obama delighted onlookers waiting behind yellow police tape by stopping to shake hands before getting back in his Chevrolet Suburban.

But barely two minutes later, the motorcade had halted again with Obama unable to resist getting out to meet a crowd of young schoolchildren lined up at the roadside, screaming in delight at the candidate's unexpected arrival.

In Michigan on Thursday, the Illinois senator told supporters that he had "a gift all picked out" for his wife of 16 years.

He said he was looking forward to a "romantic dinner" -- although the attendant Secret Service agents, press pool and inevitable crowd of onlookers might spoil the intimacy.

上週五，美國（民主黨）總統候選人巴拉克•奧巴馬在忙碌的拉票途中抽出身來，在當地一家花店買了一束白玫瑰。當天正值奧巴馬與妻子米歇爾16週年結婚紀念日，奧巴馬打算在兩人共進“浪漫晚餐”之前給妻子獻上這束花。

在一場競選造勢活動結束後，奧巴馬的黑色SUV率領着警車、特工車、競選團隊車和媒體大巴組成的車隊停在“佩妮花屋”門前。

奧巴馬在店裏待了20分鐘，他與店員小聊了幾句，挑了束玫瑰，並向隨行記者發表了一個簡短聲明，對國會衆議院通過金融救助計劃表示歡迎。

店員瑪麗•達茜將一束點綴着滿天星、用玻璃紙包好的白玫瑰交給奧巴馬時，他說：“這束花太漂亮了，我喜歡它的設計和包裝，看起來真不錯。”

這位47歲的總統候選人打算當晚在芝加哥的結婚紀念晚餐前把這束花送給妻子。

走出花店後，奧巴馬還與等候在黃色警戒線外的圍觀羣衆們親切握手，之後便鑽進了他的“雪佛蘭巨無霸”。

但車隊剛走了兩分鐘，又停了下來。因爲奧巴馬看到一羣小學生排着隊站在路邊，正爲他的意外到來開心地叫喊着，這讓他不由地再次下車與孩子們見面。

上週四，這位伊利諾斯州議員在密歇根對支持者們說，他爲妻子準備了“一份精心挑選的結婚紀念禮物”。

他說，他很期待與妻子共進“浪漫晚餐”——儘管現場會有特工、媒體和圍觀人羣這麼多的“燈泡”。

Vocabulary:

baby's breath:滿天星