2 files changed, 12 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 38994e7..99f7940 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ A rain radar clone for Mapbox GL, see it live at: [http://geshem.space](http://g
 ## Dev
 
  - Python 3.5
- - Redis
+ - Redis (optional, recommended)
 
 Setup a virtualenv:
 
@@ -14,8 +14,10 @@ $ mkvirtualenv -p `which python3` geshem
 $ pip install -r requirements.txt
 ```
 
-Make sure you have a stupid `redis-server` running on localhost, then just run:
+Then just run:
 
 ```bash
 $ python geshem.py
 ```
+
+Make sure you have a stupid `redis-server` running on localhost to enjoy some sane caching.
diff --git a/geshem.py b/geshem.py
index 361aaf8..209eb5e 100644
--- a/geshem.py
+++ b/geshem.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import requests
 from flask import Flask, render_template
 from os import environ
 from pathlib import Path
+from redis.exceptions import ConnectionError
 
 MAPS_JSON = 'http://map.govmap.gov.il/rainradar/radar.json'
 STATIC_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[0] / 'static'
@@ -28,9 +29,13 @@ def home():
 @app.after_request
 def update_images(response):
     # poor man's background task
-    if not redis.get('fresh'):
-        redis.setex('fresh', 'yes', 60)
-        fetch_latest_images()
+    try:
+        if not redis.get('fresh'):
+            redis.setex('fresh', 'yes', 60)
+            fetch_latest_images()
+    except ConnectionError as e:
+        if app.debug:
+            fetch_latest_images()
     return response
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':