The color of Oak

My stump is oak. There is no question about that. Mark told me it was. And I have been able to see the distinctive grain and rays of oak as I cut through it.Up until now, I've been carving the root system away. Which has been moist (to say the least). As the chips fly, and I cut down into the moisture, I was unable to tell if it was the red oak, or the chestnut oak(the poor man's white oak). I saved a few of the larger chips, and as they dried, it looked like this would be a white oak. That kind of tan/white/cream color was very apparent.

Today, however, I started hollowing out the trunk side of things. Since the trunk was exposed to air for a much longer time than the roots, the trunk is relatively dry. And very red.

So, now I must suspect that it is red oak. The question of why springs to mind though. And, is this a normal thing? I have no answers, seeing as how all I ever see is the kiln dried wood that comes through the shop. If anyone has any insights, please share.

Now on to today's work.

When I was a Boy Scout, at summer camp Whitsett, I took metalworking one year. Metalworking in this sense meant taking a #10 tin can lid, and your ball-peen hammer, and whacking at it in a dished out tree stump until it was a smooth "bowl". Well, if you can imagine that, that is close to what I accomplished today. The dished out tree stump, not the bowl.

For those of you who can't imagine that, I have pictures so that you can see